MINUTES OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION Sixty-eighth Session June 1, 1995 The Senate Committee on Transportation was called to order by Chairman William R. O'Donnell, at 5:27 p.m., on Thursday, June 1, 1995, in the Counsel Chambers of the City Hall, 401 California Avenue, Boulder City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Agenda. There is no Attendance Roster. COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman Senator Maurice Washington, Vice Chairman Senator Lawrence E. Jacobsen Senator Jon C. Porter Senator O. C. Lee COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: Senator Joseph M. Neal, Jr. (Excused) Senator Raymond C. Shaffer (Excused) GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT: Assemblywoman Gene Segerblom, Clark County Assembly District No. 22 STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Don O. Williams, Chief Principal Research Analyst Diane Rea, Committee Secretary OTHERS PRESENT: Iris Bletsch, Mayor, City of Boulder City Jeff Patlovich, Director Community Development, City of Boulder City Brad Benson, Lead Spokesman, CAUTION (Citizens Against Unsafe Traffic In Our Neighborhoods) Eugene Weight, District Engineer, Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) Bob Ferraro, City Councilman, City of Boulder City Stewart Dayton, Boulder City Resident Chris Mills, Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) Christine Milborn, Boulder City Resident Wallace Bast, Boulder City Resident Frances Milne, Boulder City Resident Jim Holland, Park Planner, National Park Service Mary Shope, Boulder City Resident Norman Greene, Boulder City Resident Senator O'Donnell opened the hearing and introduced the committee members and staff present for the meeting. Senator Porter said with the community's concerns for the truck traffic and crossing of the Colorado River, it is felt that the committee should come to Boulder City and hear from the Boulder City people and others concerned with this matter. Iris Bletsch, Mayor, City of Boulder City, discussed the concerns Boulder City has over the truck traffic. She presented the Boulder City statement to the committee (Exhibit B). Senator O'Donnell asked for an explanation of the proposed alternate routes. Jeff Patlovich, Director Community Development, City of Boulder City, explained the alternate routes. The map is found in Exhibit C on page 1-2. (Exhibit C is on file in the Research Library.) Assemblywoman Gene Segerblom, Clark County Assembly District No. 22, asked how many miles from the Laughlin turn off to the California border? Mr. Patlovich replied that he has no idea, but going down to Laughlin and across to Kingman, Arizona is about 30 miles longer than the route across Hoover Dam. It does eliminate the up and down route for the trucks. Senator O'Donnell asked about the grade in Laughlin, Nevada. Mr. Patlovich replied that the route has been improved into Laughlin. Senator Porter said it is 6.6 degrees on the Nevada side and 6 degrees on the Arizona side. Brad Benson, Lead Spokesman, CAUTION (Citizens Against Unsafe Traffic In Our Neighborhoods), explained the purpose of CAUTION is to get unsafe traffic off Hoover Dam and out of Boulder City. A report on the proposed Colorado River crossing is provided (Exhibit D) and an article on CAUTION is provided (Exhibit E). He explained the proposed Willow Beach crossing. The NDOT (Nevada Department of Transportation) report is found in Exhibit C. He said they (CAUTION) feel the Willow Beach crossing is the most logical for the trucks. Senator O'Donnell asked if CAUTION is advocating the South Willow Beach Bridge which has an $88,000 price, and how much is the figure that the federal government came up with? Mr. Benson replied that the $88,000 is the figure that the CAUTION engineers came up with. The federal figure varies as high as $200 million. The NDOT study shows $400 million. He said the CAUTION group has Nevada engineering firm members who build bridges and roads all the time. They have based their estimates on highway 163. Eugene Weight, District Engineer, Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT), said he has worked with the CAUTION group, NDOT, and the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR). He said they had selected three routes with BOR in conjunction with NDOT, which bypass Hoover Dam and the vicinity. He said Boulder City requested a route farther south to take the truck traffic out of town, which the other three routes do not address. This is the Willow Creek South route. He said the problem there is environmental considerations. This area includes the Lake Mead recreational area and the ranger in charge says the trucks will not be allowed to go through there. He said another disadvantage is the $400 million and there will not be any usable portion until the route is completely finished. Senator Porter said the committee needs to be made aware of the impact on tourism to Boulder City when something happens to close the highway. Mr. Weight said there is concern by BOR over the traffic over the dam. There is a lot of flammable material crossing the dam. The Laughlin alternative is a concern because the bridge there has a lot of traffic crossing to the casinos. There is also a climbing grade up from that crossing. He said to go down to I (Interstate) 40 is considerably out of the way. Senator Porter asked if there is a traffic count across the dam? Mr. Weight replied that NDOT projects about 11,000 ADT (Average Daily Travel) across the dam. On U.S. 95 there is approximately 5,000 ADT. Senator Washington asked what type of environmental impact there is over the area of the Willow Beach pass? Mr. Weight replied there are wildlife crossings for mountain sheep, there are falcons in the area, and there is plant life that will need to be addressed. He said in that corridor there are sustained grades of around 6 percent. Senator Washington asked if the study for that area is included in the $400 million? Mr. Weight replied that is outside of that; it is a construction figure. Ms. Segerblom asked how far it is from the Laughlin turn off to the California border? Mr. Weight replied it is approximately 33 miles. Ms. Segerblom asked how far it is from the California border to I-40? Mr. Weight replied that from the Laughlin turn off to the state line is only a mile. It is probably around 33 miles to I-40. U.S. 95 on the California side is not a priority route for Cal- Trans (California Department of Transportation).. Senator O'Donnell asked about extending U.S. 95 to I-40. Mr. Weight said I-40 is a regular interstate highway with controlled access. It is a four-lane highway. Senator O'Donnell asked what would be the prohibition from the federal government to prohibit trucks over the dam? Mr. Weight said he would assume that if that was posted there will be tremendous pressure from the truck lobbyists. That is taking the trucks a long way out of their way. He said a public hearing will bring in people from Bullhead City and Laughlin with the same concerns as the people in Boulder City have. Senator O'Donnell stated that the EIS (Environmental Impact Study) has been done for I-40. He asked if since the EIS is done for U.S. 95, and it was widened, would that work? Mr. Weight stated that if lanes are added to U.S. 95, an additional environmental assessment will have to be done. It could be accomplished, but the road will have to be widened all the way to I-40 and the trucks will have to be stopped. He said they are just not going to go that far out of their way, and he said he did not think there will be any interest from Cal-Trans unless Nevada is willing to fund the project. Senator Jacobsen said that within the next 2 years, the federal government will be designating some routes from coast to coast. Nevada just accepted funds for the State Nuclear Office for $6 million for planning and environmental studies. He said Bob Loux should be contacted and asked what routes will be coming through Nevada. Senator Washington said there is a road between Las Vegas and Tonopah with dips that wash out occasionally. He asked what that cost was, how much time the state took to study the environment, and what resulted to make NDOT do something about that road. Mr. Weight replied that a lot of the roads in that area were reconstructed before some of the environmental regulations came about. Senator Porter stated this is a priority for rural Clark County. What the committee needs to do is to compile a direction to present to the entire Legislative body. The businesses are concerned about the tourist impact. Senator O'Donnell said he does not want to leave this issue undone. Bob Ferraro, City Councilman, City of Boulder City, said this subject has been talked about by Boulder City many times. He asked the committee to get the community out of the fiasco that could be coming to them. Stewart Dayton, Boulder City Resident, said he has investigated the Laughlin route and many of the trucks that try to take that route do not make it. It is dangerous. He said the empty trucks can maybe make it down that route. He said the Hoover Dam/Boulder City bypass is reported to be 5 miles farther than the present route, but is 8 miles farther. He said from Navajo Bridge in the Grand Canyon National Park to Davis Dam, the river course is about 250 miles. The only crossing is Hoover Dam. The only feasible route is the Willow Beach South route. That route requires about 15 miles of travel through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. There are already over 1,000 miles of roadways through that area. Chris Mills, Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), said BOR got out of the bridge building business about a year and a half ago. It is more appropriately handled through NDOT. He said there is a traffic problem at Hoover Dam and they would like to see it solved. There are plans for putting in a traffic light which will help with the traffic problem some. Senator Porter asked how many tourists visit the dam yearly? How many vehicles cross the dam? How many accidents and fatalities? Mr. Mills responded about 750,000 people take the tour each year. They estimate 3 million visitors per year. NDOT counts about 6,000 vehicles crossing the dam each day. There have been a limited number of fatalities, about one fatality every 5 years, because of the limited speed. Senator Porter asked how much money has been invested? Mr. Mills said it is about $1.8 million. Christine Milborn, Boulder City Resident, said she is before the committee to talk about the human lives that may be lost. She said nobody has mentioned the fact that the truckers may not like going across the dam. She said she thinks the people should be considered. Wallace Bast, Boulder City Resident, said people are a species. If the state waits to solve this problem, there is an enormous risk of having what happened in Riverside County during a big fire in the Winchester area. Nine homes burned because the owners had been prohibited from removing growth around their homes because of the protection of the species around that area. He suggested that the Willow Beach route be looked into with the idea of a 50-year bond bridge. Senator O'Donnell said it is not a matter of if there will be a hazardous material accident on the Hoover Dam, but when. Frances Milne, Boulder City Resident, said she is concerned with this matter. She said Boulder City also needs to be concerned with acts of terrorism, such as what happened in Oklahoma City. The dam would be a tremendous target for someone. She said she does not feel the Willow Beach crossing is the best. She lives in that area. The environmental issue needs to be looked at closely. She said the U.S. 95 to I-40 should be seriously considered as a potential route. Jim Holland, Park Planner, National Park Service, gave a statement to the committee (Exhibit F). Senator O'Donnell stated that he would like to get a resolution drafted by Wednesday of next week to submit to the Senate. Mary Shope, Boulder City Resident, said Nevada is not a nuclear waste dump and the trafficking across the bridge or down U.S. 95 needs to be addressed. Whatever route is chosen, the U.S. 95 route needs to be widened for the people in Laughlin. Railroad Pass also needs to be widened. Norman Greene, Boulder City Resident, gave information to the committee (Exhibit G). Senator O'Donnell asked if there is a possibility of a hazardous crossing fee in the trucking industry? Mr. Weight responded that could be looked at. The state will have to deal with BOR. The state's responsibility ends at mile post 1.7. They do not actually get down to the dam. Senator O'Donnell asked where the nearest station is for them to buy a pass? Mr. Weight responded at Railroad Pass. Senator Porter said Gold Strike. Ms. Segerblom said the Assembly has a bill for toll roads. Senator O'Donnell said hazardous crossing fees appeal to him. He said he likes the idea of the 50-year bond. Mr. Dayton said the hazardous permit costs $100. The Nevada Highway Patrol is responsible for issuing the truckers their permits. Senator Lee said in 1959 he trucked between Arizona and the Nevada test site. He said the idea of regulating the schedules so that the truckers hitting the area during the busy hours take the long way around. If they do not want to take the longer way around, have the trucks hit the dam area when there is not much traffic. Senator Jacobsen said his advice to the people of Boulder City is to have their emergency services up-to-date. Things happen and they do not want to get caught with the fire department, police, HAZMAT (hazardous materials) and such services not being prepared. He said the state of Nevada cannot live without trucks. They provide a service for the state. Senator O'Donnell said the comments about the emergency management is encouraged. If there is an emergency and it is not up-to-date, there will be lives lost. Senator Porter said Boulder City is the first response to anything in the area. Additional information provided for the committee includes a letter from Russell VandeBerg (Exhibit H), a letter from Bryan Nix (Exhibit I), and a Brief History of Studies Conducted for a Bypass of Hoover Dam (Exhibit J). Senator O'Donnell adjourned the meeting at 7:38 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: Diane C. Rea, Committee Secretary APPROVED BY: Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman DATE: Senate Committee on Transportation June 1, 1995 Page