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Freeway to Phoenix gains traction with bridge work
Courtesy NDOT
This artist’s rendering shows what the redesigned interchange of the Boulder City Bypass and U.S. 93 would look like at Railroad Pass. The Railroad Pass Casino is to the left.
Published Saturday, July 11, 2009 | 2:01 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, July 15, 2009 | 2 a.m.
This Nevada Department of Transportation graphic shows the route of the proposed Boulder City Bypass. If U.S. 93 is designated an interstate between Las Vegas and Phoenix, the bypass route would become part of the interstate, officials say.
The proposed Hassayampa Freeway through the western Phoenix suburbs is outlined in red along the left of the map.
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The Hoover Dam bypass bridge is not just an engineering marvel that will route traffic off the dam. The four-lane span, scheduled to open late next year, also paves the way for realizing long-standing hopes of a Las Vegas-to-Phoenix freeway.
The bridge is being constructed to the standards necessary to be part of the proposed Interstate 11, a freeway that governments on both sides of the state line have bought into.
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada last week became the latest in a handful of government agencies in Arizona and Nevada to pass a resolution supporting the designation. The Las Vegas City Council passed a similar resolution last month.
It’s not a new idea, though. A loose coalition of planners and businesspeople has been promoting the designation of a Phoenix-Las Vegas interstate since 2007.
The impetus was simple and striking: These are the nation’s only two metropolitan areas of a million-plus people each that are not connected by an interstate highway, according Tom Skancke, a consultant working with parties in both cities on the project.
That same fact was noted, with some incredulity, by the researchers who put together a 2008 Brookings Institution report on the region’s most pressing needs.
One baby step toward the Phoenix-Las Vegas freeway took place two years ago, when the Maricopa Association of Governments in Arizona studied a proposed freeway corridor along the western edge of Phoenix. Dubbed the Hassayampa Freeway, it would connect U.S. 93 north of Wickenburg, Ariz., to Interstate 10 in the southern Phoenix suburbs, according to the study. That would lay the groundwork for Interstate 11 in Phoenix.
The Hassayampa Freeway, however, is still just lines on a piece of paper — a planning document for the towns along the corridor to use in their development agreements for the master-planned communities that have permission to build there, Maricopa Association of Governments Senior Engineer Bob Hazlett said.
Interstate 11 is going to take a lot more work. It would require, first, an act of Congress, and then would need massive amounts of money from an already overstretched source.
If Congress designated the new interstate highway, the project would be put in line for money from the federal highway fund. However, that fund is fueled by the gas tax and is declining as car owners drive less and buy more fuel-efficient vehicles, Skancke said.
“You have to recognize it’s going to be tough to get because of the cost,” said Rudy Malfabon, assistant director of the Nevada Transportation Department. An official cost estimate hasn’t even been put together yet, he said.
But, Malfabon added: “On the bright side, you have both states doing improvements.”
And those improvements are paving the way toward an interstate designation. In addition to the bypass bridge, other projects along U.S. 93 in Arizona and Nevada are being built and planned to federal interstate highway standards.
The Arizona Transportation Department for the past 11 years has been widening the highway between Wickenburg and Hoover Dam to four lanes. The two lanes that are being added meet federal interstate standards, Arizona Transportation Department spokeswoman Teresa Welborn said.
If the highway were designated an interstate, only the older two lanes would need to be improved, she said.
And the Nevada Transportation Department has just made changes to the proposed Boulder City Bypass that would bring it to interstate levels, at least until it gets to the Eldorado Mountains approaching Hoover Dam, project manager Glenn Petrenko said. If an interstate were created, that portion could get an exception as a mountainous route, he said.
In fact, maps of the design changes show the first phase of the redesigned bypass labeled as Interstate 515 — an extension of the freeway that connects downtown Las Vegas to Henderson.
The improvements have been designed to make travel from U.S. 95 north from Laughlin to Las Vegas more efficient and to provide local access to planned development in Henderson, Petrenko said, but the Nevada Transportation Department plans to request interstate designation once the roadway is completed.
As the pieces fall into place, Skancke said, the time could be right politically to designate the first new interstate since 1985.
Infrastructure is a priority for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Jon Kyle, R-Ariz., as well as for the rest of the congressional delegations of both Nevada and Arizona. It’s also a priority for President Barack Obama, said Skancke, who does lobbying work in the nation’s capital.
“Now is the time to be investing and doing infrastructure projects in the country, especially in this region,” Skancke said.
Reid spokesman Jon Summers confirmed that the Senate majority leader is familiar with the proposal and plans to be helpful.
Phoenix Councilwoman Peggy Neely, who leads the Maricopa Association of Governments, said it may take awhile, but she’s a believer.
One of her children attends UNLV and she owns a home in Clark County, so she makes the trip up U.S. 93 15 to 20 times a year.
“I know what the traffic is out there,” she said. “I know it would be beneficial.”
Discussion: 23 comments so far…
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That would make my commute to Vegas more efficient! I would love to see this done eventually!
I do the trip through Wickenburg to phoenix at least 5 times a year. How beneficial this would be is immeasurable. Once you get to Wickenburg you encounter what seems like a never ending glut of stop lights. Hopefully this idea gains some strength and finally gets passed to get form AZ to Vegas a smoother trip.
all those u-hauls leaving las vegas are jamming up 93.
This is a great idea. But I will say this: Make Interstate-11 go from Phoenix to Las Vegas to Reno.
Why? Because then you've got Las Vegas in an "X" and it can become a shipping hub for a major corporations and the economy can diversify out here.
There are a few companies that have setup in Las Vegas, NV because they did not want to be in California due to Cali's terrible taxes.
This could be a major advantage for Nevada if I-11 were connected to I-80 in the Northwest and the I-10 in Arizona.
Trucking and shipping lines from the east on I-10 could avoid a large percentage of California and trust me, they'll avoid California if they can. Same thing from companies shipping from the Pacific Northwest.
I-15 runs from Los Angeles up to Canada. You could connect with I-80 if you had to go East as well.
I-11 would run from Phoenix up to Reno where you could connect with I-80 (without having to backtrack in the wrong direction through Utah) and reach the entire Pacific Northwest much quicker than going through California.
Construction of I-11 would create a lot of jobs and for Nevada, it would create lots of businesses between Reno & Las Vegas.
If you've ever driven from Las Vegas to Reno then you know that it's a lot like "The Hills Have Eyes" and I would much rather go on a freeway than the one lane road that takes 8-hours when it should take 3-hours if there was a freeway.
Hopefully, Interstate-11 won't be like the high-speed train idea they've kicked around for 30-years. The Interstate-11 idea actually works on a lot of levels.
lvdjlv - You'd have to drive 150 mph to get from Las Vegas to Reno in a car in three hours.
Six hours would be plausible... but you're talking about convincing Washington to send billions to the West, when DC has shown little interest in ugprading dangerous and overtaxed regional highways in this part of the country.
This is a no brainer....and sending it on to Reno is a plus...
jobs, development.....endless plusses
Actually, we're talking about getting Harry Reid to get the money. And I e-mailed him the idea I wrote about here via his website.
And yes, maybe I exaggerated the amount of time it would take to get from Vegas to Reno, that's not the point:
The point is that companies around the country have to do business in California but don't want to be in California due to California's taxes. The point is that I-11 would give Americans and American business many options for travel in the Southwest.
Many hubs would sprout up in Southern Nevada if they could control their shipping on major freeways next to California without being in California.
Hey, if you want to rely on the casinos to be the only major business out here and nothing else, then be my guest. But if you're wanting to truly diversify your economy then a company has to have incentive for setting up shop here.
The tax situation is great, but if the shipping costs cancel out the benefits from the taxes then companies won't invest in Southern Nevada.
Look on a map at what I'm suggesting: I-11 would go from Phoenix to Vegas to Reno.
That means I-10, I-40, and I-80 are connected, and I-70 is in the mix too. That's four major freeways that have another option to navigate around California.
Look at I-5 in California and imagine I-11 as basically parallel to I-5 in Nevada. It would benefit a lot of different ventures.
I envision Las Vegas in an "X" and being a major hub for businesses. I think putting Southern Nevada in an "X" as a major crossroads for America would do nothing but benefit this State in the long-run.
Just my opinion. Peace.
We, too, drive the Las Vegas to Phoenix route many times a year, on different days of the week, and at different times.
Frankly, the only "traffic jams" we encounter, on the entire route, are at the Hoover Dam. Once that bypass is complete, that seems to be all that is necessary.
The State of Arizona has spent a fortune widening and dividing the route between Kingman and Wickenburg. There is no need for additional traffic improvements.
We have never been stuck in traffic jams in Kingman or Wickenburg. The idea of spending millions of dollars on freeways to bypass those cities is simply ridiculous. Anyone who complains about traffic in Wickenburg simply can't read a map. Carefree Highway is a fast road which already connects Wickenburg to Phoenix's major north south freeways.
No interstate designation, nor Federal money for an interstate, is needed, given the current volume of traffic. Given the quieting of the economy in Phoenix and Las Vegas, there is no need for expansion of the route.
Designation of the route as an Interstate would simply be a "con job" to obtain money for the Boulder City bypass, and another "con job" to obtain Federal money to build a north south freeway on the west side of the Phoenix which is largely undeveloped, and which many people in that community feel is unnecessary.
So the Federal elected officials can call it an Interstate or not, to get money for the Boulder City loop road, but in reality there is no need to spend billions of Federal dollars on a full Las Vegas to Phoenix freeway.
The United States is insolvent, with crumbling infrastructure. The idea of duplicating a well functioning highway route, which is operating under capacity, is simply a ridiculous waste of Federal tax dollars.
this thing is going to take 20 years to build. theres going to be law suits.the environmentalist are going to want a piece of the pie. you wont see it happen. but maybe our kids will.
Build a rail connector with passenger service from phoenix to las vegas and to reno. Cost a lot less than an interstate and would provide service to two transcontinental rail services. Oh, I forgot - this makes sense and wouldn't service the tanks we love to drive. Hey, let's try it anyway!
This is a great idea to bad California will try to kill it there jealous that businesses are leaving there high tax state for many other states in the west they will try to stop this one way or another.
CynicalObserver has to be a die hard right-winger...
Not hard to figure that out....the "NO" attitude sticks out all over.
"No" we shouldn't do that. "No" that will cost too much money. "No," its not needed. "No," everything is ok just the way it is.
I read CynicalObserver's post & I immediately thought of what Woodrow Wilson said about conservatives. He said:
"A conservative is a person who sit & thinks, & sits & thinks, but mostly just sits..."
This is bad for the environment. Put in a LV-Phx bike path instead.
what if there are boogey mans in arizona? what then? I'm already scared
El Lobo obviously doesn't read my comments very often.
I'm a Marxist Democrat by trade.
the interstate to reno is a pipe dream..the car count is too low to warrant an interstate...
alot of the existing US 95 North just barely meets secondary highway standard...ndot has widen a few sections with wider shoulder but some areas only have 2 or 4 foot shoulder.
and as rudy once said..the fish stinks from the head down....
Dream on. There's no capital to get this built. They can't even afford to keep the already-existing roads in an adequate state of repair. The last thing we need is to mis-deploy even more resources on yet more blacktop we won't be able to keep paved, just for the ever-shrinking number of people & businesses who can actually afford to keep cars and trucks on the road. What's that, the "recovery" is coming? Yeah I'll be sure and hold my breath for that.
If this thing ever does get built, it'll just be a deluxe path for people to push shopping carts on, in their mass exodus on the way to someplace that has water.
Also, this route is part of the CANAMEX corridor- a federal route from Canada to Mexico that was designated as a trade corridor. This was the original focus to speed up the Hoover Dam bypass and why Arizona has been so focused on the upgrades on 93 and the new bypass that should be open any day now through Wickenburg. Also, Arizona can route it on its Loop 303 which is now being upgraded to a freeway from Interstate 10 to US 60. I also have viewed a long term plan in Phoenix to extend I-11 to Tucson by creating a Phoenix bypass to the south.
I suggest that you look at the cost of this very carefully. Congressmen and senators fancy themselves as highway engineers but don't care a lot about the finer points of paying for it.
Most of the US Interstate was paid for by socializing the cost. That means that some states had to import cash from other states to complete construction, especially if there was difficult terrain. I-69 from Michigan to the Mexican border is also one of those Interstates that the congress wants to build. The state of Indiana found that they could not build it as a toll road because of low traffic and the inability to divert traffic to it. The state of Tennessee is not admitting that their current income of 2.5 cents per vehicle driven in no way permits them to build their section of I-69 without socializing the cost. They need twice that.
That means the non-users will have to pay. Beware of these Trojan Horses. The only way you can pay for this road is to either pay more state taxes or federal taxes and the most likely thing is that both will go up. Even with tolling, no one will operate or even offer to operate a toll road without adequate income/traffic. Vehicle miles traveled is declining and has been for about 18 months now. The cause of this is partially demographic as well as related to gas prices. Toll road failures are more common than your think. That is why Indiana looked before it leaped.
People generally don't mind taxes going up for stuff they get; they don't like paying for stuff that they don't get. While promising a new Interstate, the Congress is also promising relief to the chronic donor states like Texas, Florida Georgia and Michigan. The Highway Trust Fund will go broke again in August. The rapid deterioration of that fund is due to promises to end the donor/donee state patterns that have existed since 1957.
I don't know what kind of consultant Mr. Skancke is, but his citing of 1985 as the last new interstate designation (probably I-39 in IL/WI) is way off Since then, there have been:
1987: I-97 (MD); 1991: I-68 (WV/MD); 1995 (as part of the NHS authorization): I-99 (PA/NY) & I-73 (SC/NC/VA/WV/OH); and the most recent, I-22 (MS/AL) in 2004. Must be similar to the LA papers proclaiming each new freeway section as the "last" in the region -- at least until construction starts on the next! That being said, it should be noted re I-11 that the corridor from Las Vegas to Reno is contained within the compendium of federal high-priority corridors authorized in 2005 (SAFETEA-LU act) as Corridor #68 -- but, of course, without any funding provisions. Nevertheless, I have a $$-related notion that may be useful. This corridor would be principally utilized by (a) commercial vehicles and/or (b) recreational travel "shuttling" between the casino/resort centers in Clark County and the extended Reno/Tahoe/Carson City area. Given that set of parameters, a toll facility between the regions could be developed; utilizing capital derived from resort/hotel developers. To generate recreational traffic over this corridor, some sort of "comping" could be done by the resort operators upon customer presentation of toll receipts (in the form of chips or credit vouchers for use in the facilities -- which would invariably be spent along with additional non-tollway-related funds). I live in the desert region of California, and even with the economic downturn of late, Fridays see the access roads to Nevada (I-15 as well as the various feeders) "stuffed to the gills", so to speak -- and although the overall numbers may be down (indications are that they are!), Las Vegas and the other Nevada resorts continue to be a prime attractor. Another idea: continue the Interstate in a northwesterly direction from Reno, connecting with I-5 near Mt. Shasta, CA; this would provide a continuous commercial pathway from the Pacific Northwest to Las Vegas, eastward points on I-40, and Phoenix (and, of course, on toward Texas). Under current idiom, new urban freeways pose a sociopolitical "black hole" (deservedly); nevertheless, commercial and recreational connectivity does require safe roadways (some travelers, myself definitely included, savor the journey equally with arrival at a destination!) interregionally; an extended I-11 would likely divert traffic that need not enter central or southern California away from the long-congested facilities in those regions -- and as long as railroads are for-profit enterprises, the probability of addressing most of the interregional needs (especially in the West, where topography has restricted rail development) by the rail method in a timely & effectual manner is likely to not be forthcoming.
~*Just another thing my small town needs coming into it. US60 becoming part of I~11 Las Vegas to Phoenix.
US60 runs right thru the middle of Wittmann to Phoenix.
The elementary school is on 1 side and these kids homes are on the other side of this road.
So when 1 of the 10+ or so kids that WALKS home from school, because they dont bus them home now, is crossing this FUTURE FREEWAY gets hit ~ Then What?
We were here 1st. No one asks us (the 2700+ people that live IN Wittmann) ~ about anything before they do it. We dont get to vote on it. We just get it all shoved down our throats.
Our regional manager ~ I guess he'd be a small town mayor, never comes to us w/ this stuff!
As for where this freeway would intersect the road from the school, there is 1 light ~ the ONLY light in our town.
Everyone and their Mother RUNS that light almost every 22 mins during the day and even in less time at night.
Ive almost been hit a few times on mornings when my kids miss the bus and I take them to school.
The last thing we want to see is 1 of those pedestrian bridges in our town. We're trying to clean it up, not make it look worse.
This is the last thing we need right now. We're already fighting a Huge railyard that BNSF is putting in here in our town.
Our previous Governor slid this under the table and made the deal. And it's going in kitty~korner to this same elementary school I mentioned above.
So this huge railyard is going to affect that same intersectin as well.
Let me guess, they're going to tear up this area of US60 like they did in town. Where the rail tracks are above ground the the Interstate runs underground in a tunnel.
And we'll just have to deal w/ it right??
Cant they just dump this bad idea into the Carefree Hwy (AZ State Route 74)???
Thinking someone should be contacting people who live in Wittmann about this BEFORE making a deal w/ the State of Arizona!!