Long wait for I-11 to Las Vegas continues (Phoenix, Kingman: hotel, house)

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

One issue that affects all the states is that Interstate Highway System (IHS) was "declared" complete in 1992 at which time the Feds essentially chopped it over to the states. Up until then the FEDs put up 90% of the cost to build the IHS but now it's up to the states and IMO that's where the rub is, i.e., some states have taxes so low they can't get 'er done. I saw this back in COLO, bigly, which is one of the reasons I had no remorse at leaving after 11 years.

Each state has its own priorities. For AZ, should they prioritize I-11 through sparsely populated areas so money from Phoenix can leave this state and be spent in Las Vegas? Seems like a bad deal for AZ to spend its money when AZ has its own casinos it wants to see prosper. I suspect AZ DOT prioritizes loops around its biggest metro area (Phoenix) where most of the property, income and sales tax money in AZ is generated. Like "Deep Throat" of Watergate fame said: "Follow the Money."

Interstates are also about freight movement. As a truck driver, I know this. Interstate 11 would be much more preferable to US 93 for trucks driving between Phoenix and Las Vegas

[asufan]

It's so much nicer to fly to Vegas anyway. Who needs to see Wickenbug, Kingman and Boulder City?

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

One issue that affects all the states is that Interstate Highway System (IHS) was "declared" complete in 1992 at which time the Feds essentially chopped it over to the states. Up until then the FEDs put up 90% of the cost to build the IHS but now it's up to the states and IMO that's where the rub is, i.e., some states have taxes so low they can't get 'er done. I saw this back in COLO, bigly, which is one of the reasons I had no remorse at leaving after 11 years.

Each state has its own priorities. For AZ, should they prioritize I-11 through sparsely populated areas so money from Phoenix can leave this state and be spent in Las Vegas? Seems like a bad deal for AZ to spend its money when AZ has its own casinos it wants to see prosper. I suspect AZ DOT prioritizes loops around its biggest metro area (Phoenix) where most of the property, income and sales tax money in AZ is generated. Like "Deep Throat" of Watergate fame said: "Follow the Money."

You hit it on the head here. This is the probably the real crux of the issue: why would AZ be so excited about building an interstate that makes it easier for tax dollars to run to Vegas? Of course Vegas wants it. Of course Mexico wants it (or at least businesses shipping out of Mexico). Phoenix supposedly has too many cars and that brown haze hovering over I-10 is not good. So let's build another interstate.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by asufan

It's so much nicer to fly to Vegas anyway. Who needs to see Wickenbug, Kingman and Boulder City?

Again, a ton of freight moves between Las Vegas and Phoenix every day. Can trucks fly?

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

Again, a ton of freight moves between Las Vegas and Phoenix every day. Can trucks fly?

I have to agree here. Besides, outside of the essential road travel (such as what you do for a living), many people like to do Vegas for weekend getaways or mini vacations. Flying is a pain in the rump when you take into account all the airport hassles, dealing with the TSA, having to share crammed seating arrangements on the planes, etc. Flying is worthless on rather short destination trips ... however, I can do whatever I want and go wherever I want, whenever I want on road trips, even if the scenery along the way to & from Vegas isn't anything to brag about.

I11 would make the travel faster & generally safer. Highway 93 has too many spots where it's divided, then narrows to 2 lanes. If ADOT was more reliable & efficient, perhaps we would have had some construction started on this newest interstate by now. NDOT was not only able to complete their I11 section in Clark County, but they managed to have I15 widened to 12 lanes in Vegas, and 6 lanes from Vegas to the CA border. But then, NDOT didn't waste time & money on stupid projects like rubberized asphalt!

[grmi66]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Each state has its own priorities. For AZ, should they prioritize I-11 through sparsely populated areas so money from Phoenix can leave this state and be spent in Las Vegas? Seems like a bad deal for AZ to spend its money when AZ has its own casinos it wants to see prosper. I suspect AZ DOT prioritizes loops around its biggest metro area (Phoenix) where most of the property, income and sales tax money in AZ is generated. Like "Deep Throat" of Watergate fame said: "Follow the Money."

I've never been one for conspiracy theories until I moved back to Tucson and saw the state of the roads down here. "Follow the Money" is pretty accurate. The roads get better or worse depending on what political party the local county supervisor is or what part of town the county manager lives.

I-11 also seems to be brewing discontent down here as well. Still trying to figure out what route to take around Tucson.

[Dangerous-Boy]

passenger rail service would be nice

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by Dangerous-Boy

passenger rail service would be nice

5 years ago, there was talk by XpressWest to build a network of high speed rail from Las Vegas to Phoenix, Las Vegas to Denver via Salt Lake City and Las Vegas to Victorville, the last one is still trying to get done.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL GAINS TRACTION

XpressWest has gone through many incarnations over the last 5 years, I think they are now called Brightline West. At one point they had some Chinese backers with supposedly deep pockets, but that fell through. You can read about it on their Wikipedia page:

Brightline West



XpressWest had some great pie in the sky ambitions, for the Intermountain West and high speed rail, but like most things on this scale, it comes down to money and lots of it, where you need state/federal governments to get involved to help finance it. It will be interesting to see if the Las Vegas to Victorville line will ever get completed!

[asufan]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

Again, a ton of freight moves between Las Vegas and Phoenix every day. Can trucks fly?

That's just not something that is a huge concern to me. It takes truckers 20-30 minutes more than a freeway would, I'm sure that's factored into shipping costs

[asufan]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

I have to agree here. Besides, outside of the essential road travel (such as what you do for a living), many people like to do Vegas for weekend getaways or mini vacations. Flying is a pain in the rump when you take into account all the airport hassles, dealing with the TSA, having to share crammed seating arrangements on the planes, etc. Flying is worthless on rather short destination trips ... however, I can do whatever I want and go wherever I want, whenever I want on road trips, even if the scenery along the way to & from Vegas isn't anything to brag about.

It's like a 50 minute flight, if that. Not a hassle at all and drops you off like 2 blocks from the strip with tons of ride share services. The drive home from Vegas is the real downer though. After a few nights of debauchery I just want to get home ASAP