Rural Nevada benefitting the most from federal road stimulus

Rural Nevada has benefited the most from federal highway stimulus dollars so far, receiving 63 percent of Federal Highway Administ-ration funding for roads and other transportation projects, according to an Associated Press analysis of reporting records.

Nevada will receive a total of $201 million for highway projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress earlier this year to jumpstart the nation's lagging economy and save jobs. So far, $104.7 million has been appropriated for 27 projects. Of that $66.3 million is for projects in rural areas, and $16.2 million has been spent so far.

Roughly $24.2 million has been allocated for projects in Las Vegas' Clark County, home to some 1.9 million people. But of that, only $69,000 has been spent, according to federal reports dated Oct. 23.

In contrast, Northern Nevada's Humboldt County, with a population of 18,000, has benefited from $7 million, about half of which has been spent.

"Most of the work that's been done has been in the city of Winnemucca," said Bill Deist, Humboldt County manager.

Deist said the overhaul of Winnemucca Boulevard, the town's main drag, and the paving of U.S. 95 between Oregon and Las Vegas, have been on a wish list for several years.

He said the paving work helped keep a local asphalt plant operating.

U.S. Reps. Shelley Berkley and Dina Titus, Democrats whose congressional districts encompass the Las Vegas metropolitan area, have criticized Gov. Jim Gibbons' administration, saying a House committee report showed Nevada lagging most other states in allocating the funds for "shovel ready" projects.

"This funding was meant to be spent quickly and efficiently to maximize its job-creating potential," the two wrote in a September letter to the governor.

Since then, Nevada's tourism-driven economy, hard hit by the recession and a collapsed housing market, has worsened. The state's unemployment rate hit a record 13.3 percent in September.

"With Nevada's unemployment at record levels, recovery act funds are critical to create jobs and put people back to work," Titus spokesman Andrew Stoddard said. "The state needs to act with a greater sense of urgency and put this money to use with the utmost speed, efficiency, and transparency."

State transportation officials say projects statewide are progressing.

"We're working around the clock to get these projects out," Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Magruder said. He said work in Northern Nevada will slow as winter settles in.

"I think everyone wants to see the economic shot in the arm a little sooner," he said.

The agency's Web site says highway stimulus funds have retained or created 479 jobs as of September.

In the long run, Magruder said Southern Nevada will receive a little more than half of the $201 million, $49 million of which will be used to repave sections of Interstate 15 and U.S. 95.

For now, though, Republican Rep. Dean Heller's district is reaping the rewards from the stimulus bill that he opposed. Besides the Humboldt County road projects, others in his district include $1 million for a wildlife overpass in Elko County and $2 million to extend tracks for the V&T tourist train that runs from Carson City to Virginia City.

Heller makes no apology for the benefit to his largely rural district, which encompasses about 90 percent of the sprawling state.

He said he would vote against the same stimulus bill again because he it contained too much "pork" that didn't involve job creation.