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Thursday, June 2, 2011 | 11:24 a.m.
Sun Archives
- Senate OKs bill for private toll road around Boulder City (4-26-2011)
- 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)
CARSON CITY – Building a $400 million bypass around Boulder City would create about 14,000 jobs, but opponents to the proposal complained that there would be no preference given for Nevada contractors and employees to get those jobs.
Jack Mallory, of the Southern Nevada Building Trades Council, told the Senate Finance Committee that the proposed privately financed toll road is “bad fiscal policy.”
Mallory said contractors from out of state could get the job and bring their workers to Southern Nevada.
Scott Rawlins, the state's deputy transportation director, said that when federal funds are used, no local preference can be given to contractors or workers.
Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, said there are 86,000 construction workers out of work in Southern Nevada. He questioned why there couldn't be a local preference given to contractors and workers.
Chris Ferrari, representing the Nevada Contractors Association, said local companies were “chopping at the bit” to get work.
Senate Bill 83 will allow private financing of new highways in the state -- not only the proposed Boulder City bypass -- and tolls could be charged for companies to recover their money.
Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, said two private companies have approached him about possibly financing the project. He said the proposed freeway would bring money to the state and relieve traffic jams in Boulder City created by the opening of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge.
Mallory said state bonds could be issued for the project, which would allow for a local preference for workers. The committee didn't take action on the bill.
I say that Boulder City doesn't get a bypass. Just what the heck were you doing when the bridge was being built? Now you have a little traffic back ups. Deal with it!!! I say you get squat!!!
1) There should be no preference. They should put in the best bid then they can get the job.
2) No one will pay the toll it goes the long way around
3) The feds had this planned to do already. It would have already been completed even before the bridge was. Boulder voted it down because they didn't want the traffic diverted around. Thats why everything is happening so fast the feds already did all the planning.
This was and still is just bad planning by the legislation. Good work guys.
lets just bypass boulder city all the way,they screwed up and now want a toll road so they will still have they cheap and most likely broke drivers going thru their town.
Still working on getting verified....
There's no way that this job would create 14 k jobs. If the toll was $1 and there were 20k per day that used it, it would take 55 years to pay the principal on the construction note. Problem is there is an estimate that only 11.5 k would use it. Its also part of the proposed corridor for a full blown interstate highway from Phoenix to LV. How much will it cost for NV to buy out the private partner so it can be incorporated into I-11?
jmallory I think your $1 toll guess is far to low. The Toll Lanes on the 91 freeway between Riverside and Orange County charge fees between $2-$12 depending on the traffic. The heavier the traffic in the free non-toll lanes the higher the toll fee.
The major difference was those toll lanes were built in the center of the existing 91 freeway so drivers had the option.
I had prepaid transponders in my vehicles for several years and I loved the toll lanes.
If its going to be a Federal Interstate to Phoenix then let's make it a Federal Interstate and have Harry Reid work on getting Federal Monies to help build it. In addition secure lands to build a High Speed Train to Phoenix to connect them to the Las Vegas to California High Speed Route. The Airlines could use a little competition.
Hey Ben
There were fedral monies for it. It was all part of the bridge project. Boulder city voted to "not" give the land to the feds to build the bypass. It was how it was originaly to be. Now they realize it was a mistake and want everyone else to pony up.
It comes down to 26+/- miles more to Kingman. It is the mileage difference between the Hoover route and the US95 route through Laughlin. It adds 20+/- minutes to your drive to go down US95. Therefore, if you are in a car or pickup you have the option to pay a toll and from the bridge see nothing of the Dam, or you can head to Laughlin and toss that last $20 in video poker to chase your losses. Of course, the latter can be a toll of a differing kind, but if you stop at the Dam, you have the additional tour fees, obligatory snacks, and lovely souvenirs for granny, so the difference in costs could be a wash anyway.
On the other hand, if the traveling public decides to avoid an unreasonable toll and pushes up the traffic counts on the US95, then US95 road improvements will be on an accelerated timetable. US95 is not a Federal route and the local bids would be back in the ballgame again for the struggling contractors.
If I were Mr. Mallory, I would re-examine my approach. Construction is downsizing all over the country. A big out-of-state firm will need the local companies for subcontractors. It is reduces their mobilization costs, eases their supply cost for local aggregates, concrete plants etc. and soothes the angst of the local contractor. There is a slice of the pie for the local guy in this somewhere.