The original I-11 feasibility study seemed to indicate that I-11 could go practically any direction northward from Vegas. There was a map image showing arrows extending northward along several corridors (US 93, US 95, plus a few others that likely made use of some existing state highways).
I remember that map. Its message to me was, "We have no idea where I-11 should go next. Maybe if we show it going everywhere, the people who support all possible routes will support the project."
That's probably precisely the mindset of the I-11 project backers -- give everyone a chance, and the ones with the most clout will get their corridor where they want it -- and hoping that that same clout will eventually translate into actual developmental action. In reality, there were two feasible corridors north from LV: US 93 and US 95. And the latter was chosen, as it functionally linked the two most populous areas of the state. But -- also in reality -- the primary function of the US 93 corridor would be to convey traffic into Idaho; except for the Ely railroad museum (among other local lore artifacts), there's not much along that corridor.
This may have been more in the concept of using 93 as a freight train corridor than expanding roads to Interstate standards. (I can't quite recall where I saw this and can't locate at the moment.)
Such a freight line would likely branch off the UP main near Caliente, then head up US 93; there would be significant tunneling involved to get it up to Ely. Once in Ely, any freight line might well follow the old Nevada Northern, once a mining-access railroad but now the path of a steam-powered tourist operation. From Wells up to Twin Falls, ID, following US 93, is the path of the Wells UP branch abandoned in the late '60's; the last time I drove up that way the RR alignment, which closely followed the highway for most of its length, remained intact albeit overgrown. But in any case, all the rail activity in the area is dependent upon Union Pacific activity -- they own all the active tracks (save the tourist line) in NV and southern ID;
their needs would be the determining factor in whether an additional freight line up US 93 would be feasible -- and given the freight patterns of late, I would have serious doubts about the necessity of such an additional rail line.