LETTER: A dog and pony show at Interstate 15 near the border
I am totally on board with your Dec. 7 editorial on Gov. Steve Sisolak’s grandstanding at the Nevada border with California Gov. Gavin Newsom regarding the addition of a third southbound lane for Interstate 15 created out of the road’s shoulder. In addition to the fact that Gov. Sisolak has forsaken similar problems right here in Clark County, his statement of concern appears disingenuous. He barely said a word about that issue in 10 years-plus.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman is the one who has been carrying the torch and promoting discussions between the Nevada Department of Transportation and Caltrans these recent years. The two governors joining-of-forces to promote a minor event appears to be nothing more than a stunt to reverse their falling popularity and to attempt to disparage the character of the one who has been carrying the ball — Ms. Goodman — as nothing more than a “complainer.”
The project itself, however, accomplishes nothing. Any engineer will tell you that with a virtual closed-course 110-mile stretch of road between the state line and Barstow, you need to have three lanes all of the way to avoid what we now see at Primm. All this five-mile shoulder project does is to re-establish the 20-mile back-up on the other side of the mountain pass where it will re-form.
In other words, the two governors have simply kicked the can down the road. Politics at it’s worst.