Las Vegas mayor wants Nevada to have toll roads
By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman says she’s ready to get behind a lobbying effort for legislation that would enable the state to collect tolls on Nevada highways.
At Tuesday’s Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority meeting, Goodman said she would press the issue if it means Nevada could develop critical highway projects faster.
Nevada is the only state among seven in the West that don’t have tolling authority.
Goodman’s declaration came in the wake of a pair of reports to the authority board about projects needed to improve transportation to and from the city. The LVCVA’s contracted transportation lobbyist, Tom Skancke, told the board that a lack of funding is the biggest barrier for completing a list of projects that would improve the flow of tourists to Southern Nevada.
“The Highway Trust Fund is broke and broken,” Skancke told board members.
He said lawmakers have been reluctant to raise fuel taxes to pay for highway infrastructure and that an alternative to raising taxes would be to charge tolls on highways or for the use of special traffic lanes.