Thursday, November 13, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nevada highway money on the road to approval

State expected to get 'substantial' amount of federal funds to build, repair roadways

WASHINGTON -- Major legislation that promises Nevada millions of dollars more each year for road-building and repairs began to move in Congress on Wednesday.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved a bill that allocates $255 billion among the states.

Although some details were made public, committee leaders kept under wraps the key formulas that specify how much each state will get. That information will be made public in January, according to Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the committee chairman.

But one of the bill's authors was Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., prompting Nevada officials to expect healthy increases for the state.

Nevada expects to gain enough new federal funding to guarantee there will be money available to complete major projects now on the drawing board, including Las Vegas Beltway interchanges at Summerlin Parkway, U.S. Highway 95, and Interstate 15, said Mike Pieper, a Washington representative for Gov. Kenny Guinn.

Nevada lobbyists follow the highway bill with great interest when it comes up for renewal every five or six years. The state depends on federal aid to supply roughly 30 percent of its road building and repair budget each year, Pieper said.

"With the rate of growth in the state and the demands on our transportation system increasing dramatically, without this money our program would grind to a halt," he said.

The bill renews the government's major highway assistance programs for six years, drawing money from the Highway Trust Fund that is fed by gasoline taxes and fees on tires and truck sales.

Besides new levels of state funding, the bill reopens the prospect for getting the government's backing for a high speed magnetic levitation train route between Las Vegas and Southern California. It sets aside $90 million in potential spending on the maglev project, according to lobbyists and congressional officials.

It also earmarks $50 million to continue construction of the Colorado River bridge allowing traffic to bypass Hoover Dam, they said.

Reid declined to disclose Nevada's apportionment.

"Nevada will do fine," Reid said. "We're not divulging numbers but rest assured I'll get the money. We have a number of issues that are important in the state, and of course, there's the total dollars."

A committee staff member described Nevada's increase as "substantial," but would not release the figure under orders from leadership. "The state's highway folks will be very happy," the staffer said.

The last highway bill Congress passed in 1998 granted Nevada $1.2 billion over six years, with the latest installment at about $200 million this year.

Pieper said Nevada officials are hoping to reap at least $240 million to $250 million annually in federal funding from the new legislation. That amount was declared "in the ballpark" by an official familiar with the numbers.

Reid said the new bill is silent on nuclear waste transportation, but he may consider possible amendments as it progresses. The issue is expected to become more visible in the next six years as the Energy Department develops strategy to ship highly radioactive spent fuel to Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

With committee approval in hand, Inhofe said he planned to set the transportation bill aside until late January or early February, and he hoped to get it completed by the end of February.

The House has not started its public work on the bill. Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Jon Porter, R-Nev., sit on the committee that is forming the House plan.