'It's your money, our job is to get it back to you'

The head of the Federal Highway Administration says Nevada could get as much as 25 percent more federal money for road building if Congress approves the proposed highway fund legislation.

Mary Peters said that legislation would re-authorize surface transportation programs for another six years and she believes it could be on the president's desk as soon as September.

Peters made the statement during a three day tour of Northern Nevada to take a first-hand look at major roadway projects including the Carson City freeway, Interstate 580 between Reno and Carson City and the Reno Retrack project to lower railroad tracks through the city.

Nevada received $172 million in federal highway tax money this fiscal year so the increase to the state could be more than $40 million.

That federal money is part of a $517 million Nevada Department of Transportation construction budget.

Peters said she was in Nevada not to try tell the state how or where to build roads but to see the needs and the ongoing projects for herself.

"We in the Bush administration feel very strongly that it's not our money," she said. "It's your money. Our job is to get it back to you as efficiently and quickly as possible with as few strings as possible."

She said that attitude was strengthened by her former job - head of the Arizona Department of Transportation.

If they can do that, she said, the bypass and the freeway between Reno and Carson City will both be completed on schedule.

"Governor (Kenny) Guinn and the legislature have made those priorities," she said. "I understand the bypass has been talked about for a long time but there are bridges built and work is going on. And of course locals are taxing themselves so it's important to finish the project."

She said Carson City is an example of a problem she has seen grow nationwide in recent years.

"The phenomenon of congestion is no longer a big-city issue," she said. "Cities under 200,000 are six times as congested as they were 10 years ago."

Peters said the freeway connecting Reno and Carson City is also important to relieve the congestion and dangers of the current route through Pleasant Valley. Crews are now building what will be one of the longest bridges in the state in that area and plans are to connect the freeway from the Mount Rose junction to the northern end of Washoe Valley by 2006.

The Reno train trench project, she said, is also important for several reasons as well as its effect on car traffic through the city.

"It'll improve air quality and allow the railroads to move significantly more freight through the city," she said pointing out that projections say the amount of freight being moved nationwide will double in the next decade. If more of that freight can go by rail, she said it will help relieve some of the pressure on the highway system.

But Peters also said the "design build" process for the train trench is also a significant innovation which will save a year in construction time and an estimated $15 million in costs.