Posted by Tom Mathews, Iowa Chapter Transportation Chair
======================================================

Thursday, August 12, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury 

Editor's Note: Sorry, but Sierra Club is right on U.S. 95

The kneejerk wisdom is that the Sierra Club is out of control with its 
lawsuit to stop the U.S. 95 widening project. After the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of 
Appeals decided last month to halt future phases of the widening until the 
issues raised by the lawsuit can be debated further, a cloudburst of criticism 
poured down on the Sierra Club. Club members reported receiving nasty threats. 
Even normally level-headed commentators such as Review-Journal columnist Steve 
Sebelius and the Las Vegas Sun editorial page urged the environmental group to 
drop its case. 
The primary concern is that the Sierra Club's lawsuit will unnecessarily 
delay the widening and thus lead to greater traffic congestion on U.S. 95. Which 
may be true. But this short-term thinking fails to consider the fundamental 
objective of the lawsuit and the potential long-term value if it succeeds. 
The Sierra Club's specific legal case centers on the impact that air 
pollution from vehicles on the highway will have on nearby residents. This may or may 
not be a scientifically valid issue. But the bigger issue raised by the 
lawsuit is that there is no master transportation plan for the Las Vegas Valley. 
Like so many important matters here, this just hasn't been adequately 
discussed. In the predominant Vegas mindset, there is only what is good for us today, 
and never mind next week, let alone next year or 10 years from now. What 
makes us happy right now is the only consideration on the table. 
As a result, we don't really plan for the long term. The widening of U.S. 95 
is a good example of this. With continuing growth in the northwest valley, the 
widened highway slated to open a few years from now will be just as congested 
as the narrower highway is today. 
What the Sierra Club is saying is fairly simple: Widening U.S. 95 may be a 
legitimate part of the program to improve traffic flow in Las Vegas, but it 
should be just one of several responses to the problem. Standing alone, it is far 
from a panacea. 
There are other ways to reduce traffic congestion on U.S. 95. For example, we 
know that many northwest residents work on the south Strip. Maybe a program 
could be set up to entice those Strip workers to park their cars at some 
designated place in the northwest and ride an express bus to work. The bus or buses 
could be dedicated to south Strip employees and there would be no stops before 
their destination. MGM Mirage Mandalay, or whatever the merged monolith will 
be called, could provide significant incentives for its employees to take the 
bus. Perhaps a similar program could be established for Steve Wynn and Sheldon 
Adelson's workers on the north Strip. 
Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, says he isn't a traffic 
planner and therefore doesn't have detailed solutions to U.S. 95 congestion. But 
he says the Federal Highway Administration's lack of a master plan is galling. 
"Obviously people are very frustrated by the traffic situation in Las Vegas," 
Pope says. "But the reality is that you can't solve gridlock just by paving. 
You need to have an intelligent and diverse solution. You need to sit down 
with the community and the experts and figure out not just a highway but a 
solution. That's what we haven't been able to get from the highway administration." 
A more ambitious commuter transit system clearly has to be in Las Vegas' 
future. If, as expected, our population doubles in the next 20 years, I guarantee 
10 lanes on U.S. 95 isn't going to cut it. Light rail has been the option of 
choice in other metropolitan communities, including car-loving Western cities, 
but it's very expensive. Nonetheless, Pope says, the key is to plan now. "You 
gotta think ahead, because by the time you finish this freeway, it will be as 
crowded as the old one was," he says. 
Pope says the FHA's approach brings to mind the attitude of the Department of 
Energy in its efforts to dump high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. 
"Both involve arrogant federal agencies deciding on solutions before finishing 
the studies," he says. "It's a top-down bureaucratic attitude. They don't solve 
the problem, they just build the facility." 
A large majority of Nevadans opposes the DOE's plan to dump nuclear waste 90 
miles from Las Vegas. The state of Nevada has used legal action to try to stop 
the project. Yucca Mountain critics rejoiced last month when a federal 
appeals court sided with Nevada and threw a big wrench in the DOE's plans. 
There is a strong parallel here with the Sierra Club's lawsuit. The 
short-term pain of a delayed U.S. 95 widening could result in a long-term gain of a 
true, visionary transportation plan for the valley. Maybe we should embrace these 
tree-huggers rather than try to cut them down. 

Fear of freedom 
The new Iraqi government has shut down Al-Jazeera's Baghdad offices on claims 
that the satellite news network was "inciting violence." So much for free 
speech in President Bush's model of democracy in the Middle East. 
--GEOFF SCHUMACHER 


    



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