LETTER: Tragedy in Nye County

The Review-Journal devoted a lot of press critiquing Nye County’s law enforcement lapse in DUI enforcement contributing to last year’s tragic accident on U.S. Highway 95. While there is no excuse for reckless driving, the neglect of that vital artery and other routes through Nevada’s interior are a contributing factor to the carnage.

Passing lanes reduce the likelihood of a head-on collision, and a fully divided highway with median barrier makes such tragedies nearly impossible. Extending the divided highway beyond the entrance to the Nevada National Security Site would have been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Yucca Mountain project, and Nevada could have bargained for Interstate 11 funding all the way north as a plum for accepting the repository.

Nye County routes do have increasing federal significance for hauling lithium and as the primary egress out of Las Vegas into Death Valley National Park. Two-lane highways are not adequate for 21st century traffic.