Study criticizes state highway system

RENO - An inadequate highway system, combined with rush-hour traffic and poorly maintained roads, is costing Nevadans $1.8 billion a year in extra vehicle operating costs and lost time - about $972 annually per motorist in the Reno area and $1,481 in Las Vegas, a new report said Tuesday.

The study by the Washington D.C.-based TRIP found 12 percent of the state's bridges are deficient and 13 percent of the major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.

The report advocating increased federal spending on transportation said vehicle travel has more than doubled in Nevada since 1990 during a period it was the nation's fastest-growing state.

The 116 percent increase since 1990 is the largest in the nation, an increase of 10.2 billion vehicle miles of travel to 21 billion, the report said.

It likely will increase another 70 percent over the next 20 years, causing additional congestion unless significant improvements are made to roads and transit systems, the study said.

As of 2007, Nevada ranked fourth in the nation in the share of congested urban interstates and other highways or freeways, with 59 percent of the state's urban highways carrying a level of traffic likely to result in significant delays during peak travel hours.

Travel delays in Reno will more than quadruple by 2030 unless improvements are made a recent report by the Reason Foundation said.

"The TRIP report quantifies the very real costs to drivers when funding for highways doesn't keep up with the needs," said state Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno. "Our highway budget has been going down while demands on the system have been steadily increasing."

The report concludes that failure to significantly increase federal transportation funding would mean a number of projects in Nevada are unlikely to go forward, including:

• widening portions of U.S. Highway 395 in Carson City to six lanes.

• expanding portions of U.S. Highway 395 in Reno to six lanes.

• expanding portions of U.S. Interstate 515/U.S. 95 and U.S. Interstate 15 in Las Vegas to 10 lanes.

• completing a monorail transit system from the Las Vegas Strip to McCarran International Airport.

TRIP said this year's federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides approximately $201 million in stimulus funding for highway and bridge improvements and $49 million for public transit improvements in Nevada. But it said the current program is set to expire at the end of this month.