FHWA 08-05
Monday, June 27, 2005
Contact: Brian C. Keeter
Tel.: (202) 366-0660
Federal Highway Administrator and Nevada Governor Announce U.S. 95 Settlement
Federal Highway Administrator Mary E. Peters and Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn
today announced an agreement to settle a Sierra Club lawsuit that should clear
the way to restart widening U.S. 95 in northwest Las Vegas as early as this
fall.
The agreement allows for the addition of new lanes, including high occupancy
lanes in each direction, and installation of technologies designed to reduce
congestion and improve safety on the busy highway. The agreement also includes
environmental measures that will test air filtration systems in nearby schools,
retrofit Clark County school buses to make them run cleaner and gather
information on vehicle emissions.
“Today’s announcement is about more than getting the U.S. 95 widening project
back on track,” said Federal Highway Administrator Mary E. Peters. “It’s also
about keeping Las Vegas parents, commuters and truckers on the move and taking
important steps to learn more about air quality.”
Peters said the FHWA worked closely with Guinn and the Nevada Department of
Transportation to reach the settlement as quickly as possible. The Sierra Club
lawsuit, which stalled construction the additional lanes last August, will end
once the U.S. District Court of Nevada accepts the settlement announced today.
U.S. 95 is always congested with nearly 12,000 vehicles on the 6-lane highway
traveling less than half the speed allowed during peak commuting hours, Peters
said. Estimates indicate that even a slight increase in the speed vehicles could
travel would save the public more than $8.5 million per year in delay costs.
Each day, 190,000 vehicles travel the corridor, a number expected to surge to
300,000 per day as southern Nevada continues to be one of the country’s fastest
growing regions.
The FHWA will monitor vehicle emissions at up to five major highway locations
across the country to learn more about the behavior of these emissions. Results
will help FHWA in its work with the Environmental Protection Agency to identify
how best to deal with the pollutants. Peters noted that the FHWA supports steps
already taken by the EPA to reduce vehicle emissions, including improved vehicle
technologies that are projected to cut some pollutants by 60 to 90 percent. In
all federal highway and bridge projects, FHWA applies air and water quality
improvement programs, wildlife and ecosystem conservation, wetlands protection,
roadside vegetation management and other environmental measures.
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