Southern Nevada to get most road funding over next 4 years, legislators told

The Spaghetti Bowl in Las Vegas from the roof of the World Market Center. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file)

CARSON CITY — Southern Nevada is in line to get the biggest chunk of limited state road funding over the next four years because of two major freeway improvement projects, state lawmakers heard in a budget presentation Tuesday.

Project Neon, a major widening and improvement project on Interstate 15 from Sahara Avenue through the Spaghetti Bowl, is in line for at least $500 million in construction funding through 2018. There is another $100 million set aside for right-of-way acquisition, as well as contributions from other entities, including the city of Las Vegas, for aspects of the project.

The Boulder City Bypass/Interstate 11 project is in line for between $85 million and $105 million.

Rudy Malfabon, director of the Transportation Department, said Project Neon will ease congestion and reduce the crash rate, the highest in the state, in the section of I-15 planned for work over the next four plus years.

“We know it is going to be painful during that 4- to 4½-year construction time, but it will be a lot better transportation system when we are done,” he said.

The costs of Project Neon are not entirely known because more than 100 parcels of land must be acquired from private property owners to construct the project, Malfabon said.

The state is on track to begin work on Project Neon, an overhaul of the Spaghetti Bowl interchange of I-15 and U.S. Highway 95 involving construction of a high-occupancy-vehicle flyover ramp and a series of braided ramps and redesigned exits, beginning in 2016.

Malfabon said other road improvements in Southern Nevada will include the continued widening of U.S. 95 and improvements to the U.S. 95-215 Beltway interchange in the northwest part of the valley.

The other two major road projects in the agency’s budget are the construction of the USA Parkway in Lyon and Storey counties to provide better access to the industrial park where the $5 billion Tesla battery Gigafactory will be built, and the completion of the Carson City bypass.

The USA Parkway project is moving forward with approval last year of a $70 million design-build project for what will become state Route 439. The state also paid $43 million for the right of way and existing parkway improvements to the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center owners where the Tesla factory will be located.

The final segment of the Carson City bypass is set to go out to bid in February at a cost of $40 million to $45 million.

The information was presented to the Legislative Commission’s Budget Subcommittee, meeting to review Gov. Brian Sandoval’s 2015-17 proposed budget. The legislative session formally begins Monday and will run for 120 days.

The geographic allocation of road dollars has been a sore subject for some Southern Nevada lawmakers over the past several years, particularly during construction of a section of Interstate 580 south of Reno to connect to Carson City. The six-lane, 8.5-mile freeway project cost $550 million and was the most expensive single highway project in Nevada history when it opened in 2012.

But the fairness issue did not come up during Tuesday’s hearing in the questions from lawmakers.

The perceived funding inequity has improved in recent years.

Clark County received 71 percent of the nearly $500 million spent on road projects in 2014, but the five-year picture shows a different story.

The five-year allocation of state road funding from 2010 to 2014 shows Clark County receiving only 45 percent of the $2.2 billion in total spending.

Non-urban areas received 40 percent of the funding, while Washoe County received 15 percent of total road spending over the past five years. One reason for the percentages was major work on Interstate 80, which traverses much of rural Northern Nevada.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801