Richard N. Velotta
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When Sen. Harry Reid and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood rolled out a list of accomplishments on Southern Nevada transportation projects after they toured McCarran International Airport’s new Terminal 3 recently, they included the designation of U.S. 93 as the new Interstate 11.
U.S. 93 is the highway that connects Las Vegas to Wickenburg, Ariz., where it connects to U.S. 60 into Phoenix.
Las Vegas and Phoenix are the largest metropolitan areas not currently connected by an interstate highway.
The long-term vision for I-11 is that it would connect to Phoenix and its freeway system and would eventually become a conduit for tourism and trade with Mexico.
North of Las Vegas, I-11 could someday be an important route to move commerce to Reno, either along what is now U.S. 95 or via some other route that would connect with Interstate 80, Northern Nevada’s primary east-west artery.
Reid had an important role in getting the freeway dedication included in the so-called MAP-21 surface transportation bill approved by Congress and signed into law this year by President Barack Obama.
The I-11 designation plan has been around for more than a year. Several Nevada interest groups and organizations have backed the plan and acknowledged support, including the Western High Speed Rail Alliance.
The alliance is a group of planning organizations from Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Colorado that envisions connecting major western cities with trains. If XpressWest is successful in its bid to build a train between Las Vegas and Southern California, it would be the first piece of a network of routes that would connect Denver, Salt Lake City and Phoenix with Las Vegas.
So it surprised me a little when I asked Reid and LaHood if the I-11 designation would incorporate a high-speed rail piece to it and they said no.
I don’t think anybody has any delusions about getting a train in place between Phoenix and Las Vegas anytime soon, but I-11 planners must at least begin thinking about it. Even if the proposed I-11 corridor includes a right-of-way that would eventually be occupied by a train, that would be something of significance.
It took a great deal of energy and effort to get the I-11 designation, and now that LaHood is on board with it and has expressed interest in further developing high-speed rail transportation in the United States, it makes sense to incorporate it into the corridor.
Should we be concerned today with a train that may not be built for another 50 years?
Maybe not.
But at least putting it into a long-range plan today would be wise.