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Vehicles travel toward Henderson on U.S. 93 near Veterans Memorial Drive in Boulder City on Friday, Feb. 25, 2011.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 | 9:16 p.m.
Sun coverage
The Senate has approved a bill directing the state Transportation Department to find a private company to finance a $400 million toll road around Boulder City.
The bill envisions a 14.5 mile bypass to eliminate traffic jams created by the opening of the Boulder City bypass bridge.
The state would retain the title to highway, but the private company would collect the money from the tolls. A preliminary estimate is the toll would be from 50 cents to $1.
There currently are no toll roads in Nevada.
The vote on SB 214 was 19-2, with Democrats Michael Schneider of Las Vegas and Sheila Leslie of Reno opposed.
Schneider said he has always opposed toll roads and the proposed road around Boulder City is the result of poor planning.
“We’re giving the state away to Wall Street,” he said.
The bill now goes to the Assembly.
Sun archives
- Senate panel OKs toll road around Boulder City (4-14-2011)
- Senate bill seeks toll road around Boulder City (3-31-2011)
- NDOT to discuss fixes for Boulder City road problems at April 7 meeting (3-31-2011)
- Boulder City tries to pass the truck back to Arizona (3-2-2011)
- NDOT accelerates plan to widen U.S. 93 near Hoover Dam bypass bridge (2-12-2011)
- Boulder City gets backing over bridge traffic complaints (12-29-2010)
- Hoover Dam bypass bridge opens to traffic (10-20-2010)
- Bridging America event draws thousands (10-16-2010)
- Hoover Dam bypass bridge gets warm welcome at dedication (10-14-2010)
If it goes through, have no doubt that we, the taxpayers of Nevada, will eventually be handed the bill for the entire thing.
Funny enough, in the Constitution of the State of Nevada, Article 4, Section 20, it states: "Section 20. Certain local and special laws prohibited. The legislature shall not pass local or special laws in any of the following enumerated cases--that is to say: Releasing the indebtedness, liability, or obligation of any corporation, association, or person to the state, or to any county, town, or city of this state; but nothing in this section shall be construed to deny or restrict the power of the legislature to establish and regulate the compensation and fees of county officers, to authorize and empower the boards of county commissioners of the various counties of the state to establish and regulate the compensation and fees of township officers in their respective counties, to establish and regulate the rates of freight, passage, toll, and charges of railroads, tollroads, ditch, flume, and tunnel companies incorporated under the laws of this state or doing business therein."
Wouldn't it be refreshing if, at some time, the state's legislators took the time away from their busy schedules of fund raising, hand-shaking and baby kissing, to actually read the documents they're supposed to be upholding and protecting?
Disgusting.
Sounds like the failed Monorail scam all over again, but in Boulder City. I wonder how this happened ? Good news though, should be more work for the unemployed.
The math just wreaks of eventual taxpayer bailout. $400M to build, if 2M cars use it annually (which is 5600 a day every day, 233 and hour...a very reasonable number) and the toll is $1, it would take over 200 years to profit and that's not even including maintenance and toll staff which easily be millions a year.
If this project comes to fruition you can bet a lot of "Clark County and Utah cronies" will be pocketing monorails full of cash.
I bet the toll booth operator manager gets a $200K+ salary.....
The math just wreaks of eventual taxpayer bailout. $400M to build, if 2M cars use it annually (which is 5600 a day every day, 233 an hour...a very reasonable number) and the toll is $1, it would take over 200 years to profit and that's not even including maintenance and toll staff which easily be millions a year.
If this project comes to fruition you can bet a lot of "Clark County and Utah cronies" will be pocketing monorails full of cash.
I bet the toll booth operator manager gets a $200K+ salary.....
@ happy in bc
How dare you say something like that, I bet the ticket taker, wont get a dime over 125 K
Stupid idea. Not going to work. Like the friggin' bullet train to Victorville. No one is going to take it...
So everyone knows...the road was originaly going to be built this way without a toll...the city of boulder refused to let it go around the city because they thought that would mean less shoppers and tourists. It was already planned and fully funded by the feds. Now that they can't deal with the traffic as they were told they wouldn't be able to...they want everyone else to pay. Its all thier own fault.