Everybody and their uncle knew that a new bypass around Boulder City should have been included in the plans for the new bridge spanning the Colorado River above Hoover Dam. But as the LVRJ noted in an editorial on Sunday, “The Nevada Legislature repeatedly rejected a bill that would have allowed the Boulder City bypass highway to be built as an experimental toll road.”
For the record – and I’ve had this discussion many, many times with many, many legislators – voting in favor of such a toll road would not – repeat NOT – have been a violation of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge because it would be for a new road, not an existing one, and folks desiring to avoid the toll would still have the option of taking the old “free” route.
Not building this bypass as a toll road – preferably via a private operator, as has been done with great success by Gov. Mitch Daniels in Indiana – was just plain stupid. And now the citizens of Boulder City are paying a major price for it in lost businesses because of completely and totally unnecessary traffic congestion.
Who were the state legislators representing Boulder City for the last few years again?
