Nevada’s roads and highways provide the state’s 2.4 million residents and its visitors with a high degree of freedom of movement, and they are a vital artery for the state’s tourism and mining industries, the two largest industries in the Silver State’s economy. 

Continual updating of Nevada’s roadways and bridges is necessary to ensure the economic well being of the residents and businesses of this state; provide a safer transportation system; mitigate roadway congestion and reduce environmental impacts, while accommodating future growth.  Projects designed to improve traffic flow and make driving safer ultimately improve Nevadan’s freedom.

Nevada’s residents rely on a frictionless vehicle transportation system.  Significant increases in both the state’s population and the residents’ rate of travel have placed an increasingly greater demand on Nevada’s transportation system, particularly its key highways and roads.  It is critical that Nevada develops and maintains a modern transportation system that can accommodate growth in population, vehicle travel and economic development.

More People = More Traffic

Since 1990, vehicle travel in Nevada has increased approximately
9 times faster than new highway capacity was added.

• Nevada’s population has doubled since 1990, totaling 2.4 million in 2005
• From 1990 to 2005, the number of annual vehicle miles of travel (VMT) in Nevada increased by 103 percent from 10.2 billion to 20.7 billion
• During the same period, Nevada’s total lane miles of highways increased by only 12 percent
• Nevada’s population is expected to increase another 84 percent to 4.6 million by 2030
• By 2030, vehicle travel in Nevada is expected to increase by another 125 percent, to approximately 47 billion annual VMT

(Source: TRIP report)

Deteriorating Road Conditions

Reconstructing roads costs approximately 4 times more than resurfacing them.

• Pavement failure is caused by a combination of traffic, moisture and climate
• Road surfaces at intersections are more prone to deterioration because the slow-moving or standing loads occurring at these sites subject the pavement to higher levels of stress
• Moisture also increases the rate at which roads deteriorate by penetrating into road surfaces and the materials that form the road’s foundation
• Since 2004, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) has been unable to fund pavement repairs at a level that would maintain current road conditions
• In 2006, NDOT estimated that the state needed to spend $158 million on projects to maintain current road conditions but was only able to fund $83 million
• From 2004 to 2009, NDOT estimates that the state needs to spend $1.27 billion on pavement repairs for its most critical roads and highways but will only be able to fund $506 million during this period – a $768 million shortfall

(Sources: TRIP report and NDOT where cited)