It’s a major artery, and too often it’s clogged. We’ve all seen this too-familiar scenario on the evening news: tens of thousands of Southern Californians hitting the road after a three-day holiday weekend in Las Vegas, only to find that the ride home more closely resembles time in a parking lot. So many cars clog I-15 that what should be a four-hour drive home becomes an eight-hour nightmare. Not good for the travelers – and certainly not good for Las Vegas. As our city continues to grow and evolve, infrastructure needs become more glaring, and few are more dramatic than the necessity to add lanes to I-15, the major artery between the port of Long Beach and Canada. The highway was designed and built to accommodate a small fraction of the traffic that now uses it. In fact, many segments of the highway are considered substandard after many years of heavy use.
Here’s an even more sobering thought: about 25 percent of Las Vegas’ 34 million visitors in 1999 were Southern Californians, and about 90 percent of them traveled to Las Vegas by car along I-15. Add visitor trends (the numbers keep increasing each year) and Las Vegas’ explosive growth, and you have a recipe for a big problem. Throw in the fact that I-15 is a major interstate commerce corridor, and that approximately 85 percent of Nevada’s goods are brought into the state along this road – if something is not done soon, you have a recipe for total disaster. As we know, Nevada is largely an “import state,” its economy driven by tourism and development rather than agriculture and manufacturing. In fact, Nevada’s neighboring western states also rely on this corridor for the delivery of large percentages of their goods. The expansion of I-15 isn’t just a tourism issue, it’s a business issue that literally affects everyone who lives and works in Southern Nevada.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the Nevada Resort Association have taken a leadership role in advocating for the project at state and federal levels. Their prime objective has been to secure funds to add a single traffic lane to I-15 in each direction between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, as well as truck-climbing and descending lanes as needed. It could be said that the whole process is a long and winding road. The good news is that we’ve already secured more than $700 million of the needed funds: $85 million from a Congressional appropriation, $14 million from Nevada, and the balance from the state of California and San Bernardino County.
California’s high percentage of commuter traffic from the high desert region of San Bernardino County to the Los Angeles basin would necessitate the widening of I-15 in that state alone. The funds already appropriated will be used to add both north- and south-bound lanes and truck-climbing and descending lanes on the 30-mile stretch of I-15 between Barstow and Victorville. Both lanes should be completed by 2005. Remarkable progress in this large-scale endeavor has already been made, including the upgrading of the I-15/I-40 interchange in Barstow, which had been a major bottleneck on the I-15 corridor. Truck-climbing lanes along some steep grades of I-15 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles were completed last summer.
Our next goal is to secure additional funds during the next federal and California budget appropriation cycles. To that end, we’re working closely with government officials at the state and federal levels. Knowing the importance of this commerce and tourism corridor, the states of Nevada and California have agreed to work together to support future projects along this all-important highway. Members of Nevada’s congressional delegation, as well as members of California’s congressional delegation, have played important roles in the funding and construction process. Since the issue affects the transport of goods as well, various economic development and trade associations are helping to generate support.
Of the numerous infrastructure issues facing Southern Nevada, few are more important than the widening of I-15. With more than 123,000 hotel and motel rooms in the valley, and thousands more on the way in coming years, we must make it as easy as possible for visitors to get here, and to get home. And, just as importantly, we must ensure the unhindered flow of goods into Southern Nevada – goods that support the area’s growing numbers of visitors and residents. The future health and prosperity of Southern Nevada – both its economy and its people – depend on it.
