Las Vegas-Phoenix highway project wins support of Maryland politician

If Rep. Steny Hoyer wasn’t a backer of the proposed multibillion-dollar Interstate 11 project before he came to Nevada Monday, he is now.

Hoyer, D-Md., the Democratic whip of the House, met for an hour with representatives of Southern Nevada’s business community, vowing to support infrastructure investment, including efforts to fund projects for an interstate highway that would connect the two largest cities in the country without one, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

But there’s one critical roadblock: Lawmakers must first approve MAP-21 — the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act that has funded surface transportation for the past two years. MAP-21 expires Sept. 30 and supporters of an extension fear the legislation could get bogged down by budget sequestration, the legal procedure by which budget cuts are automatically triggered. Sequestration resulted in a government shutdown and contentious debate in 2013.

Hoyer was invited to Las Vegas by Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., to hear directly from business people supportive of I-11. Among the participants were representatives of the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance and the Urban, Latin and Asian chambers of commerce. Representatives of the Regional Transportation Commission and the Nevada Department of Transportation also participated.

Many of the participants also are members of the I-11 Coalition, a nonprofit organization of Nevada and Arizona government and business leaders supporting what would be a multiphase project to connect Mexico with Canada through Phoenix and Las Vegas. Work already is underway for a small piece of the project, a 15-mile bypass around Boulder City.

Coalition members believe they can get federal highway funding support if they can convince lawmakers that the effort is a job-producing, economic development investment.

The proposal plays well into Hoyer’s belief in House Democrats’ “Make It In America” plan to create more manufacturing jobs.

The Make It In America plan includes adopting a national manufacturing strategy, promoting the export of U.S. goods, encouraging U.S. companies to bring jobs and innovation back from overseas and training the workforce for 21st century jobs.

“No one is going to make it in America if you can’t get it there when you make it,” Hoyer told the group.

Hoyer said while reauthorization of MAP-21 is critical, a bigger challenge may be in convincing Wisconsin GOP Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget committee to increase funding, possibly by raising federal fuel taxes.

Federal gas taxes haven’t been increased since 1993, but locally, voters approved indexing state fuel taxes to inflation to increase revenue and fund critical state transportation projects.

In Nevada, the Regional Transportation Commission and the Nevada Department of Transportation expect to break ground on their small sliver of I-11 before the end of the year. The commission oversees about 12 miles of the Boulder City bypass while the Department of Transportation has the three miles closest to Las Vegas.

Hoyer recommended that local business leaders continue to focus on the end goal of the I-11 project and he encouraged leaders to get the Republican governors of Nevada and Arizona — Brian Sandoval and Jan Brewer — to explain to Republican lawmakers the importance of the highway to the two states’ economic development goals.

Sandoval and Brewer agreed last month in a meeting at Hoover Dam to work to make I-11 a reality.

Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow him on Twitter at @RickVelotta.