STATEMENT OF
KATIE
DUSENBERRY, CHAIRMAN
ARIZONA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION BOARD
Before the
SENATE
ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
TRANSPORTATION,
INFRASTRUCTURE, AND NUCLEAR SAFETY SUBCOMMITTEE
SENATE
COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
SURFACE
TRANSPORTATION AND MERCHANT MARINE SUBCOMMITTEE
U.S. SENATE
Hearing on
Freight
Transportation
September 9,
2002
Good morning Mr. Chairman and
members of the committee. Thank you for
the opportunity to present to you today the views of the Arizona Department of
Transportation Board regarding the Hoover Dam Bypass Project and the impact on
commercial trucking.
For the record, my name is Katie
Dusenberry, and I am the Chairman of the Arizona Department of Transportation
Board. The Board is responsible for a
variety of transportation activities prescribed by Arizona statute.
Introduction
Over the past 10 years, there has
been a significant growth in freight due to improvements in manufacturing
processes and new technologies. This
growth, while important for economic vitality, stresses our trade gateways and
corridors. U.S. DOT has estimated that
freight traffic will double over the next 20 years making the condition of
these trade corridors even more critical.
Our economic growth and ability to maintain a competitive edge in
international markets depends on the condition and capacity of these trade
corridors to accommodate the ever increasing freight traffic.
History
U.S. Highway 93 is part of
the major transportation network in the western United States and is the
primary, direct north‑south connecting highway linking two major
metropolitan cities, Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada, in two of the
fastest growing states in the United States. U.S. 93 is one of the highway segments
that makes up the route from Mexico City, Mexico to Edmonton, Canada known as
the CANAMEX Corridor. This corridor was
formally designated as a high‑priority trade corridor by the National
Highway System Designation Act of 1995.
The Corridor runs from Mexico City to I-19 in Nogales to Tucson, I-10
from Tucson to Phoenix, US 93 in the vicinity of Phoenix to the Nevada Border,
US 93 from Arizona to Las Vegas and I-15 from Las Vegas through Montana to
Edmonton, Canada.
The CANAMEX Corridor represents
an opportunity for economic development that facilitates trade and encourages
economic growth throughout the region.
The interest in developing this Corridor is to facilitate transportation
distribution, commerce and tourism. A
preliminary study of the potential positive economic impact if the CANAMEX
Corridor is fully developed suggests over a 30 year period:
- Economic development (value added) of
$1.2 billion
- Economic efficiencies of $509 million
- Approximately 1,900 new permanent
jobs
These figures reflect
completion of a number of projects within the Corridor including the Hoover Dam
Bypass project.
Prior to the terrorist
attacks on 9/11/01, the direct route for all traffic, including commercial
trucks, to reach either Arizona or Nevada was a road across the top of Hoover
Dam consisting of two lanes of traffic, one in each direction. The approach from Arizona to the Hoover Dam
consists of approximately 1.2 miles of roadway and from Nevada, 2.2 miles of
roadway. On the approach to Hoover Dam
from both Arizona and Nevada, steep grades, hairpin turns, and inadequate sight
distance are encountered by freight and passenger traffic reducing speeds to
between 8 to 18 MPH. Commercial trucks
are often too large to pass each other on the extreme hairpin curves and must
come to a complete stop. On both the
Arizona and Nevada approaches, the grades are greater than 6%. The existing 6.3 miles north and south of
the Dam requires an average of 16.5 minutes to cross due to the nature of the
road and the traffic on the Dam itself.
To remedy the inadequacy of this route, the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) in cooperation with the States of Arizona and Nevada and
other affected federal and state agencies has taken a leadership role in
developing plans to construct a new bridge to cross the Colorado River in the
vicinity of Hoover Dam. This bridge is
entirely on federal property and therefore should be largely a federal
financial responsibility.
Since 9/11/01, the road
across the Hoover Dam has been closed to commercial trucking and over 2,100
trucks per day are now detoured to other highways. Commercial truck traffic must now route through Laughlin, an
additional 23 miles or I-40 an additional 70 miles, adding dozens of travel
miles to each trip. This creates a
negative financial impact of $30 million per year, based on only the additional
mileage, which is ultimately passed on to the consumer. The detours currently being used by
commercial trucks are not designed to handle this traffic volume and weight. The Hoover Dam crossing is the only major
highway in the nation with ongoing restrictions as a result of the terrorist
attack.
Purpose of Project
The purpose of the project,
a joint effort among Arizona, Nevada and the federal government is to
significantly reduce traffic on the road atop the Hoover Dam and will
accomplish the following objectives:
·
Remove
a major bottleneck to interstate and international commerce and travel by
reducing traffic congestion and accidents in this segment of the major
commercial route.
· Separate tourist and
commercial traffic to reduce congestion.
· Improve efficiency and
reduce cost to the shippers of freight by reducing travel time.
·
Replace
an inadequate federally owned highway river crossing, first constructed over 60
years ago, with a new bridge that meets current roadway design criteria and
improves both vehicle and truck capacity on U.S. 93 in the area of the Dam.
·
Minimize
the potential for pedestrian ‑ vehicle accidents on the Dam crest and on
the Nevada and Arizona approaches.
·
Protect
the Hoover Dam, visitors, employees, equipment, and power generation
capabilities and Colorado River waters while enhancing the visitors' experience
at Hoover Dam.
The FHWA recommended the
Sugarloaf alignment as the best location to construct the bridge. This location
is approximately 1,500 feet downstream from Hoover Dam. This site requires constructing 2.2 miles of
highway approach in Nevada and approximately 1.2 miles of highway approach in
Arizona and a 2,000‑foot long bridge.
Travel Times
The current travel time
across the top of the Hoover Dam averages 16.5 minutes up to 60 minutes during
peak hours. The proposed bypass bridge and approaches would reduce the travel
time to only six minutes.
When accidents occur on and
near the Dam, significant traffic backups of over ten to fifteen miles
result. Since there are no alternative
routes to which traffic can shift, this results in delays ranging from two to
five hours for motorists. There have
been incidents of up to 18 hours delay.
Accident Statistics
The number of tourists
traveling to the Lake Mead Recreational Area and Hoover Dam was 1.03 million in
1997 and was projected to increase to 1.6 million in 1999. Since 1964 more than
500 accidents have occurred in the 3.4 mile stretch of highway on or near the
Hoover Dam.
Commercial trucks were
involved in 96 of these accidents. Forty‑three accidents between 1985 and
1991 involved one or more personal injuries, including two fatalities. In each
accident, the cause was partially attributable to sharp curves, narrow highway
widths, insufficient shoulder widths, poor sight distance and slow travel
speeds. Especially in regards to
freight traffic, the previous configuration of putting trucks across the Hoover
Dam with two-lane traffic, steep approaches, sharp curves at the entrances and
heavy pedestrian traffic, the Hoover Dam was a serious accident location.
One mile of the Hoover Dam
road reflects a much higher accident rate than the three‑mile adjoining
segments. The half‑mile segments of US 93 approaching the Dam have an
accident rate of 3.97 per million vehicle miles traveled. That rate is over
three times the Nevada average of 1.15 per million vehicle miles traveled for
rural principal arterial routes.
Traffic on the road across
the Hoover Dam was 5,500 vehicles per day in 1993 and currently is 11,500
vehicles per day. 18% to 20% was truck
traffic prior to 9/11/01. Future traffic is projected to be 21,000 in 2017 and
26,000 in 2027. As the average annual
daily traffic across the Dam continues to increase, the number of accidents is
increasing accordingly as congestion on the Dam also increases.
Security
Since Hoover Dam holds the
waters of Lake Mead, the largest water reservoir in the nation, the U.S.
Department of Interior has identified the Hoover Dam Bypass Project as its
number one national security priority.
The massive Dam provides vital flood control for more than a quarter
million people living in the Colorado River region and generates four billion
kilowatt-hours of energy for 1.3 million people in the tri-state regions of
California, Arizona and Nevada.
Project Status
· Hoover Dam Bypass Project
received its record of decision for project approval in April 2001. The
Environmental Impact Statement has been finalized.
·
This
project is the number one priority of the States of Arizona and Nevada. Only an
additional $108 million is needed to ensure full funding for this project.
·
The
design is over 95% complete for the Arizona approach. Nevada’s approach is 60% complete. The bridge design is 30% complete.
Funding
|
Current |
Nevada & Arizona state funds |
$40,000,000 |
Federal Funds previously committed |
$86,000,000 |
Additional
Federal Funding needed |
$108,000,000
|
TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET |
$234,000,000 |
We are requesting $108 million to complete the Hoover Dam Bypass Project. Because there are no complex interchanges and only one small area of roadway on either side of the bridge to construct, we are confident that the bridge as designed will be completed within the entire project budget of $234 million dollars. The bridge’s design ensures that it will accommodate anticipated traffic volumes including increased freight that will be generated due to the north-south trade from Mexico to Canada well into the future.
GARVEE
Bonds/Innovative Financing
Because of the great need to construct the Hoover Dam Bypass, Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles (GARVEEs) are being considered as a mechanism to provide immediate funds to complete the construction of the Hoover Dam Bypass through the issuing of bonds. Even though bond financing incurs interest and other debt-related costs, delaying the project would create greater costs such as inflation, lost driver time, freight delays, and wasted fuel. Both Arizona and Nevada are interested in pursuing this as an option to allow construction to begin immediately, while allowing federal funding to occur over time. This allows for completion of the Hoover Dam Bypass by mid 2007 and thereby, providing a safe and efficient route for commercial trucking.
Conclusion
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, we urge you to consider providing an additional $108 million dollars to fully fund the Hoover Dam Bypass. The bypass project is vital to the efficient movement of commercial freight and will substantially reduce the additional miles and travel times that commercial trucks are currently experiencing. This project is also a critical part of the development of the CANAMEX Corridor which runs from Mexico to Canada and will provide economic growth and safer transportation by increasing commercial freight, commerce and tourism.