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Papas Fritas writes:
"Michelle Rindel reports at AP that despite being two of the largest cities in the Southwest, Las Vegas and Phoenix are linked by a road that narrows to two lanes, hits stoplights in a Depression-era town and until recently backed up traffic over the Hoover Dam. An effort to improve what's now a 4 1/2-hour drive to cover the 300 miles of desert between Sin City and the Valley of the Sun with a more reliable road has heavy-hitting allies, including business leaders and the Republican governor of each state. 'Long-term jobs are created by our connectivity,' says Steve Betts, noting that the stretch would be the first piece of a new shipping route between Mexico and Canada.
That the cities aren't already linked by an interstate is a fluke of timing. The Phoenix and Las Vegas populations exploded just after the national road-building frenzy that started in the 1950s. The Las Vegas metro area, population 2 million, is 40 times larger than it was in 1950. The Phoenix area, population 4.3 million, has grown 13-fold over that span. Highway supporters won a key victory last year when Congress formally designated Interstate 11. The legislation provides no funding, but it allows builders to tap into interstate construction dollars. An interstate could link Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas as partners in a 'megaregion' that competes with other regions, and could open a trade route from Mexico to Pacific Ocean ports and Canada. Arizona and Nevada are currently losing much of that flow and its attendant development to Texas and California, according to Betts, chairman of CAN-DO, an acronym for Connecting Arizona and Nevada-Delivering Opportunities. Still, other critics worry that pushing further toward the interstate dream would contribute to urban sprawl and hurt the environment. 'The last thing we need is another freeway,' says Sandy Bahr, president of the Arizona chapter of the Sierra Club. 'We need to look for other transportation modes.'"
(Score: 0) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday March 08 2014, @05:29PM
I once had a close friend who was from that way-out-in-the-middle-of-the-desert town.
A little town like that one wouldn't expect much fine dining, but the McDonalds she worked at during high school has a special, private seating section for bus drivers. All you have to do is park your bus in that fine Scottish Restaurant's parking lot, and you get all the McD you can eat, gratis.
It is quite popular to organize charter bus trips to gambling centers. That's big, between the SF Bay Area and Reno.
I once rode the Amtrak train from Reno to Oakland, but trains don't stop for gas, beer, junk food or tobacco.
Some other Soylentil pointed out that the existing road is just fine because the average velocity is 67 miles per hour.
However I expect an Interstate between LV and LA would be at least three lanes all the way, four or even five near each city, yet it would still be at capacity and there will still be lots of traffic backups.
It will move lots of Quarter Pounder meals though!
Again: We MUST get the money out of politics. The people who ride Amtrak, who work for Amtrak, the people who make the trains, I expect we vote but few of us contribute cash to the congresscritters.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by demonlapin on Sunday March 09 2014, @10:37PM
Trains are useful over a certain set of distances. They work well in Western Europe due to its incredibly high population density. They're wonderfully scenic ways to view the land, too. But it takes three days to get from New Orleans to LA. You can fly - with change of aircraft! - in less than seven hours, for $520.