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Justin M. Bowen / Sun file photo
Traffic is shown on Interstate 215 at its interchange with the connector road to McCarran International Airport.
By Kyle B. Hansen (contact) 
Published Wednesday, March 17, 2010 | 12:09 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, March 17, 2010 | 5:31 p.m.
Sun Coverage
Sun Archives
- Backers of maglev train say Chinese bank prepared to fund project (2-3-2010)
- State, feds point fingers as Nevada misses rail funding (1-29-2010)
- Nevada not included on list for high-speed rail projects (1-28-2010)
- Maglev train backers woo contractors with promise of jobs (1-22-2010)
- DesertXpress prepared to build; maglev, monorail extension on hold (1-15-2010)
- Maglev money sparks a Gibbons-Reid quarrel (9-18-2009)
- High-speed rail competition heats up with new funding (9-16-2009)
- Beyond Victorville: Coloradans covet high-speed rail, too (9-14-2009)
Funds previously promised to go toward building a maglev train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas will likely now be used to make improvements to the Interstate 215 connector to McCarran International Airport.
The shifting of $45 million in federal transportation funds comes as part of the Senate’s passage of a jobs bill that now goes to President Barack Obama.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the money earmarked for the maglev project will now go to the Nevada Department of Transportation with the intent that they be used for the airport connector road.
“Following discussions with and the recommendations from the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, McCarran Airport, the City of Henderson and the Nevada Department of Transportation, we agreed that redirecting the funds from maglev to NDOT, with the intent that the money be applied to widening the airport connector at McCarran and 215, will have the biggest immediate impact for job creation and relief from traffic congestion,” Reid said in a statement. “I urge the governor to put these funds to work immediately to protect Nevadans’ jobs and ensure the completion of a project that will result in reduced congestion for a faster, safer commute.”
Sen. John Ensign voted against the bill.
State transportation department officials said they didn't specifically request money be diverted from the maglev project, but they were happy the funds would go to a road project.
“Any bill that brings construction jobs to Nevada is good news,” NDOT spokesman Scott Magruder said.
Regional Transportation Commission spokeswoman Tracy Bower said the project has been on the commission’s priority list for years.
Clark County spokeswoman Jennifer Knight said the money from the jobs bill goes to NDOT, so it will be up to the state to decide whether it will delegate the money to the county for the project.
The county applied last year for stimulus money through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s TIGER grant program for this project, but was denied.
In that application, the county said the project was “shovel-ready” and would provide 1,450 full-time construction jobs for two years. The $140 million project is expected to take 2 1/2 years to complete.
The project application says the project will include a new ramp for connector traffic to reach eastbound 215, and will widen the beltway from six lanes to eight lanes between Las Vegas Boulevard and Windmill Lane.
The project is designed to fit in the county’s existing beltway right-of-way, limiting the impact on nearby homes and businesses, according to the TIGER grant documents.
Reid was once a supporter of the proposal to build a high-speed magnetic levitation train to Las Vegas, but switched his support last summer to the privately funded DesertXpress project, which would build a traditional steel-wheel train from Las Vegas to Victorville.
But the American Maglev Group, which would build the train for the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission, said in January it still expected to get the $45 million Reid previously helped to secure for the project.
When the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the award of $8 billion for 13 projects to build high-speed train systems along existing train corridors on Jan. 29, Las Vegas wasn’t on the list.
DesertXpress didn’t seek the funds and Reid and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the maglev group didn’t apply.
The commission said it did apply, and in February, maglev backers said a Chinese government-controlled bank agreed to loan up to $7 billion for the project.
In a statement released late Wednesday, spokesman Mark Fierro said the California-Nevada Super Speed Train commission will continue to try to get the money from the Federal Railroad Administration.
“It is unfortunate that Senator Reid has again announced his intention to ‘re-direct’ $45 million in seed money that two previous Congresses (2005 and 2008) and one president (Bush) designated for the state of Nevada to commence construction of the fastest train in the world to connect Las Vegas and Anaheim,” Fierro said. “This money -- the result of 20 years of effort by three governors, 10 legislatures and a state agency … will begin creation of 90,000 jobs for the working men and women of Southern Nevada.”
Yep, a traditional steel-wheel train from Las Vegas, to the center of the universe, Victorville. I'm guessing Reid is the same brain trust that decided the monorail shouldn't extend to the airport, where folks might actually use it.
Anyone who believes a train from Vegas to Victorville is better than one from Vegas to Anaheim is crazy. That, coupled with the fact that a Maglev train would be faster, makes the Desert Xpress idea ridiculous on all counts.
I understand spending some money on the area around the airport, but a Maglev project should continue to be pursued. If ground is broken for a Desert Xpress train, that may be the most colossal waste of money ever in this town.
Maglev is the only way to go.
Reid has his reasons for shifting his support from mag-lev to steel wheel, and this looks like one of them. If I were a cynical person I would look at what company(s) will get the contract and what relationship Reid has to them. (i.e. how much did they contribute to Reid's re-election?)
Make whatever train is built..Maglev,Desert Express etc,have a transfer station that connects people with McCarran and the Monorail and everyone wins
Maybe not only look at who contributed to Reid's re-election, but maybe also look at who has offered him a position when he loses.
A quick search finds GE Aviaion, a planned solar power generation site, Newell Rubbermaid, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, M&M/Mars, ConAgra Foods and Nutro Products all located in Victorville Ca.
Vegasnewbe;
Your thinking is off track, who owns large land holdings in/around Victorville?
Why not build a light rail from airport to car rental facility instead of all of the buses?
Excellent facts NewBe. Nice job of uncovering the real reason why Harry wants a train to nowhere.
Seems nobody wants to name names, so I will. I heard two things, first that Reid switched from Maglev to Desert Express when Republican operative Sig Rogich started "Republicans to reelect Senator Reid". Sig (who was instumental in getting Gibbons elected as well as most Republicans in NV) has a large stake in Desert Express so it could be pretty lucrative for him if Reid helps sell that system. Everybody knows why Reid needs Rogich. Second, there is some land deal involved with Desert Express (for the Victorville station) which will benefit the Mormon church. I'm pretty sure of the first as I have read about it in this paper. The second needs to be investigated further, possibly by the LV Sun?
LOL....another supposed conspiracy theory. You weirdos crack me up.
To VegasNewbe: Please site your source. Thank you.I am sure this will clear up the validity of your ridiculous claims.
George Balaban and his Desert Cab long haulers are probably overwhelmed that the money is going to be used to take the tourists faster out of the airport. When the new signage is put up giving directions to the Strip and Downtown, they should specify "The Long Way to The Strip", and "The Long Way to Downtown".
Actually, the key to all this is that "someone" is afraid people would actually use it!. The monorail was routed away from places to keep the riff-raff out. Now, because poeple use it, it won't be extended because , well people might use it! Same witht he train. Imagine building a train between two points that people would use. By building it to nowhere, it will fail, and no more will be build. Meanwhile, China and Europe are connecting everyplace with high speed trains, because the day of reconning with oil is fast approaching.
Imagine: drive to Anaheim or LA Airport. Bags checked through to your hotel. 2 hours later you are in your room. -or- 4-6 hours to drive along i-15 in a traffic jam. Or better still: 3-4 hours to Victorville. slow train to Primm. then taxi to Strip in traffic jam. With no carts to move baggage from one place to another. Yeah the way to go!
I hate to come off as negative, but will this be more Nevada business as usual? Whatever system we end up with, it will be another boondoggle benefiting few and making well connected, wealthy, and influential people richer?
Dumb move based on special interests period. The people want the maglev train. The trains would bring more people here anyway and that would create more jobs.
Unfortunately we live with a bunch of corrupt people using a corrupt system based around self interest before the common good. Not until we wake-up a good number of people to the base corruption of this system will anything ever change. You and I don't run anything, the whole voting thing is window dressing for stupid people. We start changing this by not playing games with these crooks.
Trains would not bring in more people period, it would just shuffle people who would have flown a plane but want a cheaper ticket thanks to taxpayers in Nevada. First of all the funding we were going to get was not even going to cover half the distance. Second they require huge amounts of subsidies which means higher taxes. And, btw, the high speed train only goes to one place, airports go to many.
Morons!
Take some of that cash and extend the monorail to the airport. WTF are they thinking.
stupid stupid stupid.
Even though I think this does reek of politics in terms of killing the Meglev project, if it will mean I don't get stuck in that single file lane of traffic that extends from the new light at McCarran and Russell to the 215 entrance ramp heading Southeast, I am all for it. Every day I sit in that stupid traffic heading home during rush hour I think about "leaving Las Vegas."
How the heck can Reid arbitrary move funds that were specificially earmarked for the Maglev? Sounds to me like someone needs to file an "M" Resort style lawsuit.
Politicians are liars, as this story exhibits...it has become a constant in the universe...BUT, why is it that most all y'all wanna discuss the relative merits of a train instead of the lie?...why discuss ANYTHING beyond the first sentence of this story?...what is wrong with you people?...you deserve what you get...
Wouldn't $45 million be enough to connect the monorail to the airport?
"Wouldn't $45 million be enough to connect the monorail to the airport?"
No, I think they were talking like that would be $500 million, believe it or not. Amazing how much those things cost.
stop n think, you are kidding right? I would estimate the cost of running the monorail to the airport at about 500 million. Not saying it couldn't be done much cheaper but it will cost at least that when they are done with it.
More bait and switch with our money, pretty soon we won't have any idea where our money is being spent...oh wait, we're already there!
So what are the improvements to the airport connector? Presumably a flyover ramp from the connector south to 215 East, and let the current loop ramp be used for Warm Springs Rd. traffic only.
Victorville is SOOOOOO convenient.
Smart idea.
Here we go again... Harry Reid decides HE doesn't want maglev, so he removes funds for the project.
This is the second time in less than a month that Reid has decided HE doesn't want something, so he either axes funding or transfers it to something else. (Even those here who didn't want to see Yucca Mountain built have to admit Harry's tactics to kill it were questionably illegal.)
I'm getting tired of KING HARRY always doing things HIS way and the rest of us be damned.
Wait until the American Maglev Group guy hears about this...
China will build the maglev if we don't.
Another reason not to vote for Harry Ried.
What are we getting for 45 million that we don't have already?
With maglev a 81-minute trip to Anaheim, Calif., at speeds of 310 miles per hour. The first segment of the railway would travel to Primm.
While we wait for the train, we can go see Roy Roger's Museum ! (we'll have plenty of time by the time the ol' steel wheel mover gets up the hill)
Justme - are you a city planner or city engineer? I only ask because you said, "I would estimate the cost of running the monorail to the airport at about 500 million." And that's based on...?
Soooeeeee! here piggy, piggy piggy. Pure election pork using taxpayer dollars to try to buy votes.
Give it up, Reid. This will not sway one vote up north or in the rurals where you are a political corpse awaiting burial.
I am amazed that so many people endorse a type of "train" they have never seen. In fact, I have never met anyone who has actually seen Mag-lev, have you. More than 25 years ago, the Nevada state government started spending money on the so-called Mag-lev....where is the "train" or the money. Now they say they want to built it all the way to LA, but for years they were saying give us $40 billion so we can get to Primm and then we will try to go further -- at a cost of several hundred billion taxpayer dollars. If Victorville seems like a joke, a 50 mile ride to a bankrupt hotel at Stateline is down right histerical. And if the train to Victorville fails, it will be with private money, not tax dollars. TEABAGGERS, KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF MY TRAINS. And isn't it unusual that if this Mag-lev is so great that not one such train runs in Europe where it was "invented" 40 plus years ago or anywhere else except in China where it still only runs less than 20 miles -- at a time when China is spending billions of dollars on new iron wheel trains. Me, I would rather see the airport connector fixed and wait for the "beam me up Scotty" technology which I am sure many of you will prefer to a fast train. In fact, let's skip Mag-Lev and go strait to "Beam me up."
Gigantic steps backwards for our backwards a@# state....
Ive rode on the Maglev train before in Shanghai. It is freaking amazing the speed and how quiet it operates. Of course the maglev would be a great convenience for Californians, but what good is it for all the LA people who live north of Long Beach. It would totally suck to drive hours in LA traffic just to get to the maglev station from places like Santa Monica and Hollywood. And the slow poke train to Victorville is even stupider. They need feeder trains that go to those areas or its really a waste. Besides, why does anyone need a fast train if you can just hop on an airline and be there in 30 minutes. Even after meandering hassling security lines at the airport it's still beats driving any day. The maglev is a futuristic idea, but when you got Air travel that's the fastest and easiest, what good does the maglev provide besides being the most expensive project for our tax dollars. Spend the money on the 215 improvements and forget about the trains altogether!!
The whole train nonsense is a political boondoggle.
Nonetheless, we ought to be happy to get the dough
to open up the airport bottleneck, even if it came through the back door.
Let's get them shovels ready.
monorail to airport makes good sense but the taxicab authority will fight it tooth and nail. mag lev to anaheim? love it would use the heck out of it! us locals could have beach days!
Reid switched from the Maglev project a few days after Sig Rogich came out and said he was backing Reid for the senate seat. then Reid came out and said he was backing the desertxpress, which coincidentally is backed by Sig Rogich and company....sounds like a bunch of bull to me....so what backroom deal was made for this to happen???? Ask Harry.....
vote Reid out in 2010!!!
Note: Rogich is a part of a group that deemed themselves Republicans for Reid.....It was in the papers a few months back....
To those who want my source...just a simple Google search...keywords Industry in Victorville Ca.
Forget the shovels gmag,
The moneys gonna end up going down some bottomless pit rat hole like UMC, or to pay for attorneys fees on some bogus lawsuit or maybe into one of many underfunded public employee union pension funds
So, AGAIN Sen. Reid gets to make a sole decision about money that has already been set aside but, doesn't want to truly get NEVADA back to work or put it to a vote to the public.
Let me think about it. A single lane freeway expansion for the airport putting 200 people to work for 2 years (ZERO INCREASE IN REVENUE). Shouldn't airport tax fees pay for a airport road expansion?
OR
Putting hundreds of people to work for at least 5 years at a really good chance of increased revenue, and increased gaming/resort bed tax to support the state with dollars!
Its now very obvious to me (and I live 2,900 miles away) and should be as well to the entire state now, that there are BIG Back-room deals going on. This doesnt pass the SMELL O'METER test!
To have the Reid support the FRA (fed. railroad Admin) and say that there was NO valid Maglev application after its been sitting on the FRA desk for years. Come on!
One would think that if the application wasnt correct that he would be standing in the door way of the FRA office trying to get it fixed for jobs!
(Las Vegas SUN) youve got a story here...the Govn. Gibbson visit to the FRA office to figure out what went wrong after the Obama announcement...(nothing has been reported and that meeting already took place). Who is truly backing Reed when he changed is mind all of a sudden?
If you look at this blogsite (http://canvmaglevnews.blogspot.com/2010_...) (Feb, 14 article)...this group tries to explain what is going on in Victorville for Desert Xpress. Its connecting the proposed East 220 Victorville to Palmdale freeway, and the Southern California Logistics Airport and to the North the proposed Victorville "Platinum Triangle."
***Victorville also just opened the largest Dr. Pepper bottling plant West of the Mississippi.***
Senator Reid...If I lived in Las Vegas or in the state that you call home, I would vote you out! I would have that message on my lawn, on my car, and on my email signatures for ALL to see.
NEVADA its TIME for fresh ideas!
Best thing folks can do right now for a better Nevada...
Please send your donations of U-Haul packing boxes to Mr. Reid's office in Washington D.C
I don't see how we can stand idle and let our future here in Nevada be compromised by these political idiots. The Maglev is the single most important thing to breath life into our corridor of the southwest. People like gmag39 who think it's a political "boondoggle" and waste of money are short sighted and lacking the understanding that the connecting of all the cities in the southwest corridor by high speed rail opens up limitless possibilities for commerce, economic diversity etc. Oh well.. some never learn..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Xpre...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California-...
Connect the world, it is more important to see what is happening, than just look to the corner at home, see there is a wall.
begin by reconnecting the old Amtrak service - the drive to Los Angeles is bad enough so that there is a market for it. Begin at the beginning. It is good for now to get money into actual projects and jobs. Think small and allow things to grow. When Amtrak last operated here the city was half as big. Go Amtrak.
Meglev is a fantasy that would take a quarter century to get done.
Any type of train into Vegas is just another white elephant..Tourists won't ride them because once they get here, they are now on foot.It's been tried before, and never worked, never will...
I am a SoCal resident who has a home in Nevada. I actually own property in Nevada and rent in CA. Needless to say I am more worried about what happens in Nevada than CA. A couple of points as an educated outsider. A maglev train will bring more people from SoCal to Vegas period. Currently the thought of driving on I-15 to Vegas on a Friday and returning on a Sunday is a nightmare. It can take 6-8 hours each way due to traffic. The thought of a high speed train from Anaheim to Vegas takes that nightmare away. Additionally, Orange COunty residents have money, why not give them another way to go to Vegas to spend.
Another point that many Nevadans might not think of. Those of us that live OC have to fly in and out of John Wayne Airport. A glorified commuter airport that is often more expensive for travel. The other options include LAX, Ontario and San Diego. Ontario and San Diego is another nightmare airport with a possible two hour commute depending on traffic. LAX is LAX, a whole different animal. Lots of flight options, but a traffic commute from hell.
Due to having property there, my wife and I often arrange travel through McCarron, an airport that knows how to move crowds quickly. People will quickly realize that a high speed train to Vegas opens a whole new set of travel options. Vegas offers direct flights all over the country that Orange County, San Diego, Burbank, and Ontario airports do not offer. Vegas can become the travel hub of the west.
Hundreds of millions of dollars; billions of dollars. To connect the monorail to the airport; to get a train only as far as Primm. Disneyland has had a monorail for many years; does anyone really think ol' Walt spent hundreds of millions/billions to get it done? So why do we?
Walk in Vegas? I both drive and othertimes can get around easily by bus. I suspect that most of these posters don't know what a bus is? Traditional rails would be doable fairly quickly and would introduce the idea that we don't have to drive tanks around and ruin our economy by contributing to mid-Eastern imports and the demise of the dollar.
It looks quite apparent that the DesertXpress is NOT breaking ground in March, as promised. And even if it connects to the CHSR system in Palmdale (which hasn't been official), a commute from Vegas to Ontario airport and/or Anaheim using the DX would still be WELL over an hour longer than a trip using the Maglev.
And the "maglev isn't compatible with steel-wheel technology" argument is futile, because people from the CHSR system can simply transfer to it. At Ontario, people on the main line (from San Diego to San Francisco) can transfer to the Maglev; OR, people on the Irvine Branch of the CHSR can transfer in Anaheim at the future ARTIC station.
Besides, the only thing supporting this "single seat" ride is the idea of a National HSR system, which simply won't happen, because after a certain distance, the airplane takes over.
REASONS FOR MAGLEV LOSING ITS FUNDING:
$45 million was only going to go to lobbyists, out of town consultants and investment bankers and COULD NOT BE USED FOR CONSTRUCTION. Even if it could have been used for construction, which it could not, that would have paid for about one quarter to one half of a mile -- based upon maglev cost estimates prepared by three different public agencies in this country
Congress actually shifted those funds to a real project in Las Vegas that will immediately get people to work
The maglev project was only going to extend 40 miles to Primm -- it was not going to be environmentally cleared for construction beyond that point even if they had gotten the $45 million
They have no money to build it to Anaheim let alone to Primm
The major reason they did not ever receive the $45 million is that they never came up with the required 20% local matching funds -- they tried to convince the Federal Railroad Administration to allow them to use "in-kind services" as the local match, not real private money -- which they never committed
They were always many years away from being able to build anything even if they could have come up with the untold billions of dollars needed for it
The DesertXpress project will be able to start this year without any public grants -- 200 miles to Victorville and soon thereafter another 50 miles to Palmdale
Just the first phase of DX creates approximately 50,000 years of construction employment, reaching about 20,000 workers at the peak of construction
Monorail...Monorail...Monorail!!!
-The Simpsons
How did this project get so messed up. How embarrassing. Why not just extend HIGH SPEED RAIL from the LA/ONT Int Airport Rail Station through Inland Empire cities via the Edison Transmission lines? This was the first and is the best idea. Everyone can take HSR to the Ontario Airport then to Vegas with no transfer and no parking their BMW for a weekend in a remote desert parking garage which is larger than the Disneyland parking garage. It just makes me so angry and so disappointed to see such a failure of leadership when it comes to HSR. Do you think China would be dicking around like this? No they would build right through the Cajon Pass without ever thinking about the words no or cannot.
Reminds me of my city Rancho Cucamonga which denied the Metro Gold Line access along the historic Pacific Electric RAIL line. The light rail trains would have stationed in Downtown Rancho Cucamonga at the Victoria Gardens Mall (20 million visitors per year) then station at the Ontario Mills Mall (26 million people per year more than Disneyland and California Adventure combined) then finally the LA/ONT Airport station. Instead they build a multimillion dollar bike path, ironically call it the Pacific Electric TRAIL, and cancel these two major activity center stations.
The city is now broke and the trail is only half built...but so are the neighborhoods, office complexes, and retail centers. The city cannot even keep up with it's landscaping obligations. Decisions like this make my blood boil. Rail lines are major economic decisions that are treated by the Rancho City Council as nuisances. Thus the future economy stagnates and the gridlocked boulevards, freeways, and bridges are given a grade of F for failing by the Civil Engineer Grading System.