Nevada officials want future Interstate 11 to link Phoenix, Las Vegas and Reno

By Michelle Rindels, Associated Press

Monday, Sept. 8, 2014 | 6:45 p.m.

A future Interstate 11 linking Phoenix to Las Vegas should also extend to Interstate 80 in Northern Nevada using the general path of U.S. 95, the Nevada transportation board decided on Monday.

The board vote to pursue broader definition of the road came after officials from the Nevada Department of Transportation presented their final report in a two-year study exploring the need for the freeway and possible routes.

"It's irrefutable that we need this project," said Gov. Brian Sandoval, who chairs the board. "I think the case has been made."

Transportation officials have been gathering public comment for months about potential paths for the planned interstate, although the exact routes have not been decided. It could be decades until the project comes to fruition.

Promoters of the freeway note that Las Vegas and Phoenix are the two largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. not directly connected by an interstate, although they are linked by U.S. 93. The two cities' populations exploded after the major national road-building push of the 1950s.

In 2012, Congress officially designated a corridor between Phoenix and Las Vegas as the future I-11. But the long-term goal is to stretch the road from Mexico to Canada and facilitate more international commerce through Nevada and Arizona. Board members said that vision is all the more urgent after electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors announced last week that it plans to build a massive battery factory in Northern Nevada.

"Companies like that make investments based on infrastructure," said board member Tom Skancke. "I-11 is now more important than ever."

Building an interstate from the Mexico border to Las Vegas would cost an estimated $12 billion to $13 billion, according to the study, although it predicts the project could have an economic benefit three times that big.

Federal transportation dollars are scarce, and NDOT project manager Sondra Rosenberg said that neighboring Arizona — a partner in the feasibility study — is hesitant to push for them.

"Arizona is much more cautious in asking for money because any ask is viewed as an earmark and that is not acceptable," she said.

The report, which was accepted by the Nevada board on Monday, is up for review by Arizona transportation officials on Friday.

"I'm not shy. I want to go after everything we can," Sandoval said. "I don't want to be held back by Arizona. I say it's full speed ahead."