Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumbleSenate overrides F Street veto; cost estimated at $45M
Monday, June 1, 2009 | 10:19 p.m.
Sun Archives
- Senate panel advances initiative to reopen F Street (5-15-09)
- F Street: Taking on the Road to Nowhere (5-14-2008)
- Protesters march against closure of F Street (4-18-2009)
- Roadwork works up West Las Vegans (12-1-2008)
F Street's dead end
CARSON CITY – The Senate voted 17-4 on Monday night to override the veto of Gov. Jim Gibbons on a bill to start connecting West Las Vegas to the downtown area via F Street.
Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford pledged that money to construct the project won't come from other projects in the state. And the cost could be anywhere from $25 million to $70 million.
The bill, overridden by the Assembly 29-13, requires Las Vegas to supply $22.5 million to estimate the cost and contribute to the construction. The city and the state Transportation Department would work together to secure federal funds.
Horsford said there is a pending suit by residents of West Las Vegas and a verdict could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. This bill would mitigate any damages, he said.
Horsford, D-Las Vegas, said construction of Interstate 15 “physically isolates West Las Vegas," an area that is predominantly black. Residents are cut off from their employment and entertainment, he said.
He also said there was inadequate notice to residents in the area about the expansion of Interstate 15 that cuts off F Street to the downtown area. He said those who live on G and H Streets did not get notice that the freeway was going through to cut off F Street.
He said the project would cost an estimated $45 million. But Gov. Gibbons, in his veto message, said the cost would be an estimated $70 million.
Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, questioned whether money would be taken from a Carson City freeway and the expansion of Interstate 80 to fund the F street project.
He also asked whether the F Street project would take priority over other jobs.
Horsford said the F Street project would have to go through the normal course of approval. There is a contractor working on Interstate 15 and that contract could be adjusted to include F Street to save money. If the project is delayed two to three years the cost could escalate, he said.
And he said there is no intent to “divert funds” from other projects.
Discussion: comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
- Photos: Scott Disick celebrates his 29th birthday at 1 OAK in the Mirage
- HOA scandal cuts wide swath across Las Vegas Valley
- Man suffers bullet wound when stopping burglary attempt
- Photos: Surrender’s 2nd anniversary with Skrillex, ‘Le Reve,’ Paris and Floyd
- Nearly 40,000 have voted early in Clark County
Everything Under the Sun
Blogs
The Kats Report
With Shenandoah project stalled, Wayne Newton hits back legally (7 Comments)
Las Vegas Philharmonic says search for new music director to begin 'immediately' (1 Comment)
Where does a Playmate play when she turns 21? Vegas! (3 Comments)
Ice Ice Billy
The road to six-toed cats and Mayor Bubba
The Kats Report
David Itkin tells L.V. Philharmonic officials he's on his way out (14 Comments)
Diamond Dave sells it well as Van Halen pours out the power at MGM Grand (2 Comments)
Entering debut at Tryst, Nick Hissom is a model for a rapid rise to prominence (3 Comments)
- Locally owned and independent since 1950; Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, best news website in the nation & DuPont Award for broadcast journalism
How does G and H get noticed but not F.
I hear this to often and I am an activist to help communities, but this is a lack of people reading their mail.
Great we are in the worse recession in recent history and they have found a way to waste even more money. Next year when they cut off all your food stamps for lack of money remember you wanted to waste the money so you would not have to drive another 5 min. A whole neighborhood living off of social programs once again take another huge bite out of the taxpayers pie. The working mans gotta worry about the people at the top stealing from him and the people at the bottom.
Hey all. This is one of many topics we will discuss with State Sen. Steven Horsford today (June 2) on Face to Face with Jon Ralston. The program airs at 5:30pm, 6:30pm and 8:00pm on Las Vegas ONE, Cox Cable Channel 19.
This topic wasn't discussed on Face to Face as mentioned as far as I was able to see.
I cannot believe the closure of the F Street bridge under I-15 was ever an issue to begin with, but now it is truly ridiculous that the State Lawmakers have vetoed Gov Gibbons and is requiring NDOT go back and put the bridge in. There is a bridge approximately 800 feet south of F Street for Bonanza Rd, another bridge 800 feet north of F Street for D Street and a 3rd bridge 1,500 feet north of F Street at Washington Ave. Why does this community of less than two dozen homes need four bridges to access their neighborhood. Are they really that lazy? And are our government representatives really that stupid?! Remember, this is going to cost us who pay taxes, at least $20 million and probably closer to $70 million!! For what??!! This was Senator Horsford's "TOP PRIORITY" in this past legislature session!!