State’s offer to trade roads gets no takers

CARSON CITY -- Want a state road for free?

Or how about trading the Las Vegas Beltway for Tropicana and Sahara avenues?

The state Department of Transportation wants to make these kind of deals with local governments in Clark County and elsewhere.

But there have been no takers.

Deputy Transportation Director Scott Rawlins told the state Transportation Board on Monday that there has been "zero interest" in his agency's offer to give counties and cities 903 miles of state-owned and maintained roads. At the request of Gov. Brian Sandoval, chairman of the Transportation Board, the department will send another letter requesting the transfer of the roads to local control.

There is a good reason for the local governments' reluctance: It cost the Transportation Department $14.5 million to maintain those highways last year. The department would be turning the ownership of the roads, and everything that entails including all future repairs and maintenance, to the local governments.

State Transportation Director Susan Martinovich said that because of budget constraints, her agency no longer can afford to give proper attention to state-owned and operated roads such as Tropicana, Sahara and Flamingo Road in Las Vegas.

On the other hand, the Transportation Department has identified 270 miles of county- and city- operated roads that it thinks should be taken over by the state.

The most significant one is the 51-mile Las Vegas Beltway, which is known as Interstate 215 in one segment and Clark County Route 215 in another. A deal the Transportation Department would like to make is taking the Beltway in a trade for Flamingo, Tropicana and Sahara.

"We're open to discussing it," said Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa about exchanging the roads.

But he added the county must remain whole, meaning not taking on more in costs than it gives up.

"Given the state of the economy, now is not the time to add costs," Pappa said.

The Transportation Department already manages five miles of the Beltway near McCarran International Airport. Negotiations are under way to acquire the remainder, said Scott Magruder, a department spokesman.

The state manages Tropicana and Sahara from Interstate 15 east to Boulder Highway and Flamingo from Rainbow Boulevard to I-15 and from Paradise Road to Boulder Highway.

But Pappa noted the county pays for maintenance of sidewalks, traffic signals, street lights and storm drains along those state-maintained roads.

He also said the county, through passage of voter-approved bond issues, built the Beltway in part because the Transportation Department did not have the money for the construction.

More than 10 years ago, the Transportation Department turned over most of the Strip to governments in Clark County. It now owns and operates 5,400 miles of roads in Nevada.

Rawlins said state roads should be highly used highways and interstate freeways that connect cities and regions, while local roads are those that basically serve one city or county.

He said there are some state-owned and -operated roads in rural areas that carry only 50 vehicles a day.

"So are we stuck with these roads?" Sandoval asked.

The department's answer was yes because an attorney general's opinion found it would not be in the public interest to force the roads on counties and cities.

Sandoval wants the Transportation Department to be persistent. He ordered staff members again to send letters to local government requesting they take the roads.

The Legislature -- which reviewed the department's plans to voluntarily shift state roads to local control in 1999 -- could pass a law ordering the transfer, but it probably would be challenged.

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, another Transportation Board member, said that since Kenny Guinn was governor, the Transportation Department has been trying with little success to get local governments to take over state roads.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.