EDITORIAL: Adding more traffic lanes can reduce congestion

Nevada transportation officials should take a good look at a new study regarding the high costs of traffic congestion. The findings indicate that their penchant for high-occupancy vehicle lanes is misguided, at best.

The Seattle data firm Inrix conducted the study based on anonymous information collected from cellphones, GPS systems and vehicle navigation equipment. The firm looked at “the 100,000 hot spots within the largest 25 cities in the United States,” The Associated Press reports.

The results were eye-opening. Traffic tie-ups cost Los Angeles commuters $90.9 billion a year, the study estimates. New Yorkers lose about $63.9 billion annually as a result of productivity hindrances, fuel costs and higher prices for goods and services.

“Cities should think about alternative solutions,” the AP reports, “like opening roadway shoulders during peak traffic times” to add more lanes. The wire service said that Chicago has added lanes “to one of its peak hot spots to improve traffic.”

But simply expanding freeways isn’t practical in many areas so the study advises that cities can make improvements by “changing lane use and speed limits during peak times.”

Contrast this with the Nevada Department of Transportation’s preferred approach. The agency is spending $1.5 billion to revamp the Spaghetti Bowl interchange, and much of the work includes new flyovers and ramps. But the added capacity will include HOV lanes and ramps limited to vehicles with at least two passengers.

In addition, NDOT plans to eventually impose 24-hour restrictions on all existing car-pool lanes, which are currently open to all vehicles during nonpeak hours.

Anybody who drives the local freeways during rush hour realizes that local HOV lanes are woefully underutilized. If NDOT officials are truly interested in making things easier for Las Vegas commuters, they’d take aggressive steps to correct that instead of designating more and more lanes as off limits to most drivers.