Las Vegas is jealous of our new freeway

Our spanking new freeway wasn't even open yet, and still it got splattered. No, not by graffiti (although that happened too.) This attack came via the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and it was equally artistic.

"Yes, the latest highway project for which NDOT officials will proudly cut the ribbons this week is a bypass around Carson City (estimated population 55,974) designed to help residents of Dayton (population 5,907), Stewart (5,164) and Minden (2,836) shave "some minutes and frustration" off their daily commutes to Reno, a booming metropolis with a population now approaching 200,000," the Review-Journal wrote on Sunday.

I'll not bother to point out how totally inaccurate is that sentence - Stewart? - but quote it only to give you the general tone of the editorial in Las Vegas' biggest newspaper.

You get a better idea from this sentence: "Why, 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles now commute through Carson City each weekday, those drivers grumbling with frustration as they're sometimes required to stop at both the town's stoplights!"

I like a bit of hyperbole. I've used it myself from time to time, because it helps get across a point. In this case, I think the point is that those stupid hicks in the state's capital should be happy with what they've got and stop wasting money on highways that are only going to be used by horses and wagons.

In fact, it calls Interstate 580, under construction in Pleasant Valley, a road to "nowhere in particular."

That's pretty funny stuff.

I especially get a chuckle when I think of those thousands of commuters in Las Vegas fuming in traffic gridlock and cursing both NDOT and Carson City residents for stealing their highway money. Ho ho ho.

You know, I've been to Las Vegas. Came back, too.

I was there last weekend and took a cab from the airport to the brand new South Coast casino, a ride that lasted about 10 minutes. The trip back in a hotel shuttle van took a couple of minutes longer, mainly because the driver wasn't going 80 mph like the cab driver.

That's not my point, though. I'm sure there are traffic jams in Las Vegas every morning and afternoon during rush hour.

My point is that Carson City hasn't grown like mold in a petri dish. It has a 3 percent cap on building permits, which has never been reached. Carson City has indeed remained bucolic. There are, as a matter of fact, cows grazing within the city limits.

Las Vegas, on the other hand, has never seen a development it didn't embrace - even if it meant giving away public property to make sure the developer made an obscene profit.

Since Carson City began planning its freeway, Las Vegas has added more than 1 million people. And surprisingly enough, a lot of those people drive automobiles.

The Review-Journal blames NDOT for failing to keep pace. It faults the agency for a road-project "priority procedure (no) more accurate than throwing darts."

I see it a little differently, though. Maybe I'm a dreamer, but my concept of urban planning would involve studies of streets and highways to determine if they can handle projected traffic counts from new development.

And I know it's counter to the thinking in Clark County, but I would do those studies before I approved gigantic new housing tracts, shopping malls and mega-resorts. Then, if the streets and highways weren't adequate to handle the traffic, I would ask the developer what he planned to do about it.

I know, it's crazy. It's a lot easier to simply approve every subdivision that comes in front of the planning commission. Then, when people complain about being stuck in traffic, point the finger at NDOT.

"Hey! Why weren't you building freeways years ago to get ready for this massive growth?"

Oh, wait. I forgot. NDOT has been pouring billions of dollars into freeway construction in Las Vegas. It plans to spend billions more. Why it can't get these projects done overnight, I don't know.

Meanwhile, Carson City has moped along for 150 years without a freeway. If we had to, we'd probably be able to get by in the future without one - which is more than I can say for Las Vegas.

Fortunately, we can still hitch the horse to the wagon and start moseying toward Dayton. We'll just keep our fingers crossed that both of the stoplights are green.

n Barry Smith is editor of the Nevada Appeal. Contact him at editor@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1221.