Legislators skeptical of toll road bill
CARSON CITY — Legislators were critical Thursday of a bill that would allow private companies to construct and maintain toll roads in Nevada, including a $1 billion toll road alongside existing Las Vegas freeway lanes.
State Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, said he had heard nothing but complaints from legislators in states that have allowed private companies to build roads.
Rather than "public-private partnerships," Schneider said such arrangements were becoming known as "pickpocket partnerships."
"I have heard this over and over again from legislators in every state that does toll roads," he said. "They are furious."
Schneider chairs the state Senate Energy, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee, which conducted a hearing on Senate Bill 206.
The proposal by state Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, would allow toll roads in Nevada and create procedures for private companies selected by the state Department of Transportation to construct and maintain the roads. Two years ago, lawmakers killed similar legislation.
Lawmakers on Thursday once again appeared skeptical about the roads. State Sens. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, and Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, expressed dismay after Transportation Director Susan Martinovich initially said NDOT already had spent $5 million on consultants and feasibility studies on toll roads.
"Aren’t you putting the cart before the horse?" Carlton asked, noting toll roads are illegal in Nevada.
"Why are you spending money (on toll roads)?" Townsend asked.
Martinovich then said that the sum was spent not just on toll projects, but on a variety of planned highways.
Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, challenged NDOT’s plan to use at least some portions of existing freeway for its toll road demonstration project in Las Vegas.
"These are existing roads our taxpayers paid for," she said.
With legislative passage of Lee’s bill and a related one, the first toll road in Nevada could be NDOT’s 19-mile "demonstration project" on Las Vegas freeways. The estimated $1 billion cost of this project would be funded by private money.
Under this project, toll lanes would run from U.S. Highway 95 near Ann Road to Interstate 15, where they would connect using flyover lanes to I-15 south and extend to Interstate 215.
Cars with three or more passengers would not pay tolls.
Some sections of the demonstration project could be open in four to five years, Martinovich said.
Martinovich added a bill on the demonstration project soon would be introduced in the Assembly.
She said two private companies, which she refused to identify, were interested in financing highway construction in Las Vegas.
Martinovich said the state has no choice but to seek private construction of roads because it does have enough money to construct all the roads Nevadans need.
Highway construction in Nevada is financed by gasoline tax revenue. Gasoline taxes have not been increased since 1992.
Schneider said he doubted gasoline taxes would provide much revenue in coming years as people switch to electric and far more fuel-efficient vehicles.
But state Sen. Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, was the only member of the seven-member committee to voice enthusiastic support for toll roads.
The meeting began with an announcement by legislative staff lawyers that a constitutional amendment might be needed before private companies could charge tolls on roads they construct in the state.
But Thursday afternoon, Legislative Counsel Brenda Erdoes said that there was nothing unconstitutional about allowing private companies to build roads for the state and then charge tolls.
She said a relatively simple change to the bill would resolve problems about the constitutionality of letting private companies charge tolls on roads that they would construct and maintain for the Nevada Department of Transportation.
It would have taken a minimum of four years to amend the constitution, including a vote of the people.
At issue was a constitutional clause that any fees or costs imposed on motor vehicles operating on roads in Nevada must be used "exclusively for the construction, maintenance and repair of the public highways."
The roads would be built for a profit, with tolls likely to exceed construction costs. NDOT must put the toll revenue in the state highway fund and execute a contract with the company that provides it a reasonable rate of return, Erdoes said.
The bill will be amended before being brought back before the committee.
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
