Hoover Dam Bypass, Nevada side

I found a link to a Las Vegas news article this morning about a proposal in the Nevada legislature to perhaps construct a new toll road that would bypass Boulder City between Las Vegas and the Arizona side of the Hoover Dam Bypass currently under construction. Read the link here.

Some bits of the article...

CARSON CITY -- Assemblyman Joe Hardy has found a good reason for the 2009 Legislature to back his bill to facilitate construction of a $500 million toll road around Boulder City: Do nothing and traffic jams will become brutal.

"With the bypass, you would get rid of the traffic, there would be less pollution and you'd be able to drive a lot faster in getting past Boulder City," Hardy said.

The Legislature on Tuesday released its weekly list of bill draft requests by legislators, including Hardy's proposal to allow the state to enter into a public-private partnership to construct a Boulder City bypass road.

Hmmm... public-private partnerships, there's that term again. Will Nevadan's support such a thing in exchange for less traffic??

Congestion on the existing road through Boulder City is expected to become unbearable in 2010 after the new Hoover Dam bridge is completed.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, large trucks have been blocked from traveling over Hoover Dam. They must use U.S. Highway 95 and cross the Colorado River at Laughlin.

With the completion of the new Hoover Dam bridge, 1,500 to 2,500 trucks each day once again will drive through Boulder City and cross the Colorado at the new bridge.

The article also points out that currently there are 30,000 motor vehicles a day that travel through Boulder City, a nice town of about 15,000 people that welcomes motorists to Nevada from Arizona along Highway 93 (or bids them adieu from Nevada if the motorist is heading back towards Arizona).

Rawlins and Hardy see other reasons for a toll road. Eventually, the road would be needed even more as communities develop on the Arizona side of the dam and the Kingman, Ariz., area grows.

Hardy said the bypass also would benefit Las Vegas and its casinos. With multiple options for gaming available, tourists might decide against Las Vegas if they are forced to sit for an hour or more in a traffic jam in Boulder City.

More evidence that people think our area is going to grow and how much infrastructure improvements are important to that growth.

It just goes to show that if convenience in some form is offered, opportunities follow.