Taking a toll around Boulder City

In 2007, Nevada lawmakers killed a measure that would have allowed state transportation officials -- with certain restrictions -- to experiment with toll roads as a means of tackling congestion.

That was a mistake. Nothing should be off the table when it comes to ensuring the health of our transportation infrastructure, particularly in Southern Nevada, the economic engine that drives the state.

It appears, however, that lawmakers will have a chance to rectify their error when they reconvene in Carson City next year.

Assemblyman Joe Hardy, a Boulder City Republican, has requested a bill draft that would allow the state to hire a private entity to construct and operate a toll road that would bypass Boulder City.

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

Mr. Hardy envisions the 17-mile, $500 million road beginning near Railroad Pass, jutting south and then east around the Boulder City Airport, and then heading north around the back side of the city before rejoining U.S. Highway 93 just west of Hoover Dam.

Such a project makes eminent sense -- however it's built. When the Hoover Dam bridge opens in 2010, traffic on U.S. 93 will increase and vehicles traveling in either direction -- which will include many commercial trucks now diverted through Laughlin -- will have no choice but to take the existing route right through downtown Boulder City.

The situation will be even worse if -- as anticipated -- the bridge spurs residential development south of the dam in northwestern Arizona.

It will probably take three or four years to build any bypass, which is all the more reason the 2009 Legislature should quickly approve Mr. Hardy's proposal. Transportation money is tight, so the potential for a public-private partnership may be the only means of getting the thing done in the near future. Motorists would still have the option of taking the current route, which would remain "free." And if the plan doesn't generate much interest among investors, so be it -- that's still no reason the state shouldn't be free to investigate the option.

"Anything that can bring in new money and improve transportation, we are all for," said Scott Rawlins, deputy director of the Nevada Department of Transportation.

Mr. Hardy's bill deserves support, with one caveat. Before submitting his plan to lawmakers, Mr. Hardy should expand it to allow state officials to investigate the feasibility of toll roads on all projects, not just the Boulder City bypass. Surely there are other potential Nevada transportation endeavors that might merit a similar approach.