Monday, March 24, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
SUN STAFF REPORTS
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., will conduct a congressional hearing Friday in Las Vegas to address Nevada's transportation needs.
The public hearing will run from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the County Commission board room at the Clark County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway.
"Nevada's infrastructure is being stretched to its limit," Reid said. "This hearing will bring national attention to the progress we have made and our needs for the future."
Reid, who sits on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the hearing will examine road and highway conditions, anticipated traffic flow, congestion, air quality and technical solutions.
Officials set to participate include Gov. Bob Miller, Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, Clark County Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates and fellow County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury.
There also will be experts on magnetic levitation, intelligent transportation systems, computer traffic control signals, people movers and traveler information systems.
"We need to merge traditional highway and transit programs with advanced, environmentally sound concepts and technology to build an intermodal system that will propel Nevada and the nation forward," Reid said. "We have to plan now for the next 50 years or we will soon see our environment choked and economy stalled."
Reid said he would use input from the hearing to help Nevada secure money for projects in a transportation bill known as the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, or ISTEA.
The senator said funding for transportation improvements should come from gasoline taxes paid by consumers. He is sponsoring a bill to ensure that taxpayers get what they pay for when the gas tax is collected.
Local officials plan to battle congestion through construction of a monorail along the Strip, expanding the Citizens Area Transit bus system, building a beltway and widening U.S. 95 through the northwest valley.
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