Plans for toll through Vegas not opposed much, despite state law banning tolls

Proposed toll lane through Vegas could be a cheap as 10 cents a mile or as high as $1 a mile, depending on the traffic flow.

The Trucker News Services

7/15/2008

LAS VEGAS — A plan for a 19-mile toll lane that would go through Las Vegas has not met with much resistance from a Legislative Commission subcommittee despite the fact that toll roads are illegal in Nevada, local media reported.

The subcommittee is to continue to consider the project at a workshop in August, and will then determine whether to back it.

The plan would erect privatized toll lanes in Las Vegas and was backed in May by the Nevada Transportation Board. Whether or not support is given by the subcommittee, local news reports stated, legislation on toll lanes would probably be created by the governor's office and brought before legislators, according to a transportation official. However, the proposal must overcome the fact that toll roads are currently illegal in the state. So, legislators would have to exclude the project from Nevada Revised Statute 408.5471, which bans toll roads or bridges.

Whether the demonstration plan — which would construct toll lanes between U.S. Highway 95 near Ann Road and Interstate 15 and from I-15 south to Interstate 215 — will obtain enough support from legislators to be implemented in 2009, is unclear.

The demonstration project toll lanes would stay open for emergency vehicles, transit buses, and for automobiles with three or more passengers, while a fee would be levied for vehicles with one or two people. While the price of the fee has not been determined, Nevada officials have predicted that it could be as low as 10 cents a mile during off-peak travel periods and as high as $1 a mile during peak travel times.