At last, a window for I-11 in Oregon?

[roadfro]

The US 93 route is no longer under consideration.  The Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act adopted by Congress in December 2015 designated that I-11 would go to I-80 near Reno.
http://www.azdot.gov/media/News/news-release/2015/12/04/interstate-11-receives-designation-in-federal-transportation-funding-bill

Interesting they are very specific "through Reno to I-80."  That kind makes me assume that I-11 is going to hook up with US 395/I-580 near Carson by the way they worded that document.  I suppose it could take a north east turn off US 95 along US 95A from the Walker Reservation and bypass Yerington completely with a direct line towards Dayton.

That would be a northwest turn off US 95.

I think this could be the general trend of the route. This would be getting the route close to the USA Parkway area I mentioned earlier.

If that's the goal to reach USA Parkway and the DCs then US 50A out of Fallon to I-80 is a better bet. 

Well, my thought was to have I-11 reach USA Pkwy on the south end. A routing via Fallon and US 50/50A only makes more sense if I-11 reaches near USA Pkwy on the north end overlapping I-80–via the outskirts of Yerington and Silver Springs would reduce backtracking on a new I-11 route.

[Max Rockatansky]

The US 93 route is no longer under consideration.  The Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act adopted by Congress in December 2015 designated that I-11 would go to I-80 near Reno.
http://www.azdot.gov/media/News/news-release/2015/12/04/interstate-11-receives-designation-in-federal-transportation-funding-bill

Interesting they are very specific "through Reno to I-80."  That kind makes me assume that I-11 is going to hook up with US 395/I-580 near Carson by the way they worded that document.  I suppose it could take a north east turn off US 95 along US 95A from the Walker Reservation and bypass Yerington completely with a direct line towards Dayton.

That would be a northwest turn off US 95.

I think this could be the general trend of the route. This would be getting the route close to the USA Parkway area I mentioned earlier.

If that's the goal to reach USA Parkway and the DCs then US 50A out of Fallon to I-80 is a better bet. 

Well, my thought was to have I-11 reach USA Pkwy on the south end. A routing via Fallon and US 50/50A only makes more sense if I-11 reaches near USA Pkwy on the north end overlapping I-80–via the outskirts of Yerington and Silver Springs would reduce backtracking on a new I-11 route.

Actually the terrain through the Virginia Range doesn't appear to be too overwhelming that far east in Storey County and a dirt road looks like it already runs through there.  That wouldn't be too bad since it would dump you right out at Clark via USA Parkway.  It would weird to see urban growth spread out to Storey if I-11 bisected it.  Makes you wonder if there would be some legislative changes...cough like Clark and Washoe already have in place if something like that happened.  I'm in agreement through, that would be the best route.  I can't ever see I-11 ever going north from there though which is perfectly fine with me.

[Henry]

I wouldn't be surprised if I-11 made it up to Portland by 2056, if they pushed it hard enough!

[kkt]

I wouldn't be surprised if I-11 made it up to Portland by 2056, if they pushed it hard enough!

I would be very surprised.  The population isn't anywhere near close to justifying it, and the intermountain west is likely to run out of water for additional population before it comes close.  Mostly, I-11 is Arizona liking red white and blue shields more than black and white ones.  Nevada's population is growing, but almost all in L.V. and Reno, not the northern part of the state.

[mcarling]

I wouldn't be surprised if I-11 made it up to Portland by 2056, if they pushed it hard enough!

I would be very surprised.  The population isn't anywhere near close to justifying it, and the intermountain west is likely to run out of water for additional population before it comes close.  Mostly, I-11 is Arizona liking red white and blue shields more than black and white ones.  Nevada's population is growing, but almost all in L.V. and Reno, not the northern part of the state.

If I-11 were to be extended north to Portland (or any other terminus via US 97) then Nevada's population north of Reno would not be very relevant as I-11 probably would follow the US 395 route out of Nevada.

[Max Rockatansky]

It would make more sense just to designate an I-7 or I-9 if eastern Oregon ever got that large.  I would find it far fetched that even by the 2050s that Bend would exceed more than 300,000...but then again it's slightly more than half that already....

[mcarling]

It would make more sense just to designate an I-7 or I-9 if eastern Oregon ever got that large.  I would find it far fetched that even by the 2050s that Bend would exceed more than 300,000...but then again it's slightly more than half that already....

Interstate service to Bend, Redmond, etc. are at most secondary reasons for I-11.  Connecting Portland/Seattle/Vancouver in the north with Las Vegas/Phoenix in the south would be the primary reason to extend I-11 to the Pacific Northwest.

[Max Rockatansky]

It would make more sense just to designate an I-7 or I-9 if eastern Oregon ever got that large.  I would find it far fetched that even by the 2050s that Bend would exceed more than 300,000...but then again it's slightly more than half that already....

Interstate service to Bend, Redmond, etc. are at most secondary reasons for I-11.  Connecting Portland/Seattle/Vancouver in the north with Las Vegas/Phoenix in the south would be the primary reason to extend I-11 to the Pacific Northwest.

Well you saw the numbers in Nevada and they aren't looking too hot even for a Reno extension anytime soon.  It still wouldn't make any sense to number a route from Reno to I-5 as I-11....that's one hell of a western job not to use either I-7 or I-9.  If Bend is biggest thing between Reno and I-5 in a northwest direction that's not going to be enough for a long time.

[mcarling]

It still wouldn't make any sense to number a route from Reno to I-5 as I-11.

Why would I-11 be routed to I-5?  In my opinion, it would make more sense to route I-11 to Yakima along the US 97 corridor and terminate at I-82.

[Max Rockatansky]

It still wouldn't make any sense to number a route from Reno to I-5 as I-11.

Why would I-11 be routed to I-5?  In my opinion, it would make more sense to route I-11 to Yakima along the US 97 corridor and terminate at I-82.

Because you said connect to Portland/Vancouver/Seattle.  I took what you said too literally.

[mcarling]

Because you said connect to Portland/Vancouver/Seattle.  I took what you said too literally.

I didn't write "Portland/Vancouver/Seattle".  I wrote "Portland/Seattle/Vancouver" which implies Vancouver BC.  I don't know why you changed the ordering, unless to imply Vancouver, WA, which in my opinion is insignificant in this context.  Since I-5 cannot literally go all the way to Vancouver BC, I did not expect anyone to take the idea of connecting cities to mean that it had to reach the city limits.

[Max Rockatansky]

Because you said connect to Portland/Vancouver/Seattle.  I took what you said too literally.

I didn't write "Portland/Vancouver/Seattle".  I wrote "Portland/Seattle/Vancouver" which implies Vancouver BC.  I don't know why you changed the ordering, unless to imply Vancouver, WA, which in my opinion is insignificant in this context.  Since I-5 cannot literally go all the way to Vancouver BC, I did not expect anyone to take the idea of connecting cities to mean that it had to reach the city limits.

I just typed it out manually and didn't copy paste.  I really thought you meant Vancouever Washington and not British Columbia.  I probably wouldn't have thought Washington if I didn't notice you had it listed as the location you live at on your profile.

[The Ghostbuster]

Interstate 11 should have its northern terminus in Las Vegas or perhaps Reno. The thought of extending it any further than that seems like fantasy to me.

[mcarling]

Interstate 11 should have its northern terminus in Las Vegas or perhaps Reno. The thought of extending it any further than that seems like fantasy to me.

A combined nine million persons live in the greater Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver metro areas.  Add the smaller places along the way like Susanville, Klamath Falls, Bend, Redmond, Yakima, etc. probably brings  to ten million the population of the Pacific Northwest that would benefit from an I-11 extension to Yakima.  Providing them with a reasonably direct Interstate route to Reno, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson makes sense to me.  Of course, the residents and businesses of Reno, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson would gain Interstate access to the Pacific Northwest.

[kkt]

There are reasonably direct routes, and you can drive at 60+ mph on them almost all the time.  They're just US highways.

[mcarling]

Any possible extension of I-11 north of Reno is decades away.  I expect the Las Vegas to Reno section of I-11 will be completed sometime in the 2030s.  That may be optimistic.

[Sub-Urbanite]

IMHO, there are three cases for the completion of I-11:

• The I-5 reliever route, to help freight get to the 10 and 40 corridors to the Pacific Northwest. I mean, face it. There's no trucker on the planet that likes to pull on I-5 between Redding and Eugene.
• The imminent need for safety for drivers between Bend and Portland. Deschutes County is closing in on 200,000 residents, and is still connected to the rest of the world by 2-lane roads built for a community 15% as large.
• Reiterating the point of my original post, earthquake preparedness. Some day, and maybe it's 100 years from now but some day, that fault off the Oregon Coast is going to do its thing and we are going to be in a world of hurt. There's a reason that disaster planners picked Redmond, and not somewhere in the valley, as the supply staging area. The better the engineering is on the current US 97 corridor is to get freight to Redmond — and, in theory, over the Cascades into Portland — the quicker the area will recover.

[opspe]

I still think US 97 would never be connected to I-11. If it ever did get built to interstate standards it would be I-7 or something.  That would be consistent with giving SR 99 the I-9 designation in California.  But at most I bet it would get built up as an expressway.

As far as freight, US 395 is a better candidate for bringing that I-10/I-40 traffic up to Reno than a potential I-11 extension up US 95.  It's already twinned a lot of the way and it connects to I-580.  If trucks are coming up from Phoenix they would just head west on I-40 and bypass Vegas entirely.  Now if that could ever be extended north of Reno, it could maybe connect to US 97, but that probably won't happen.

[roadfro]

I still think US 97 would never be connected to I-11. If it ever did get built to interstate standards it would be I-7 or something.  That would be consistent with giving SR 99 the I-9 designation in California.  But at most I bet it would get built up as an expressway.

As far as freight, US 395 is a better candidate for bringing that I-10/I-40 traffic up to Reno than a potential I-11 extension up US 95.  It's already twinned a lot of the way and it connects to I-580.  If trucks are coming up from Phoenix they would just head west on I-40 and bypass Vegas entirely.  Now if that could ever be extended north of Reno, it could maybe connect to US 97, but that probably won't happen.

Right now, there's (surprisingly) not much of a mileage difference for Phoenix to Reno if you go via Las Vegas/US 95 (744 miles, via Fallon) or via US 395 (772 miles).

One thing though is that the US 395 corridor would not be as good of a freight route. It spends a good deal of time getting through the Sierra Nevada. There are parts of that that would be difficult to get to Interstate standard. A route via US 95 is primarily through valleys (in the 'basin and range' geological construct that composes most of Nevada), and has potential to be shortened in Northwestern Nevada (depending on alignment chosen).

[mcarling]

Right now, there's (surprisingly) not much of a mileage difference for Phoenix to Reno if you go via Las Vegas/US 95 (744 miles, via Fallon) or via US 395 (772 miles).

28 miles is a huge difference when multiplied by thousands of vehicles per day.

[Max Rockatansky]

I still think US 97 would never be connected to I-11. If it ever did get built to interstate standards it would be I-7 or something.  That would be consistent with giving SR 99 the I-9 designation in California.  But at most I bet it would get built up as an expressway.

As far as freight, US 395 is a better candidate for bringing that I-10/I-40 traffic up to Reno than a potential I-11 extension up US 95.  It's already twinned a lot of the way and it connects to I-580.  If trucks are coming up from Phoenix they would just head west on I-40 and bypass Vegas entirely.  Now if that could ever be extended north of Reno, it could maybe connect to US 97, but that probably won't happen.

I'll second that on the terrain, US 395 is way more difficult in the Sierras than US 95 is out in the Great Basin.  Really as it stands right now there is much reason to go way out of the way and avoid Vegas since you get a pretty similar load of traffic with I-15/I-40/CA-58 all converging in Barstow.  I'm not saying that US 395 doesn't have it's merit but it's a lot less of an all-weather/all-conditions route than US 95.  That distance to Reno would probably be cut down even more if I-11  branched off-northwest via the rough alignment of US 95A north of Yerington. 
Right now, there's (surprisingly) not much of a mileage difference for Phoenix to Reno if you go via Las Vegas/US 95 (744 miles, via Fallon) or via US 395 (772 miles).

One thing though is that the US 395 corridor would not be as good of a freight route. It spends a good deal of time getting through the Sierra Nevada. There are parts of that that would be difficult to get to Interstate standard. A route via US 95 is primarily through valleys (in the 'basin and range' geological construct that composes most of Nevada), and has potential to be shortened in Northwestern Nevada (depending on alignment chosen).

[Sub-Urbanite]

One thing though is that the US 395 corridor would not be as good of a freight route. It spends a good deal of time getting through the Sierra Nevada. There are parts of that that would be difficult to get to Interstate standard. A route via US 95 is primarily through valleys (in the 'basin and range' geological construct that composes most of Nevada), and has potential to be shortened in Northwestern Nevada (depending on alignment chosen).

Question — as NDOT looks at the potential I-11 alignment between Vegas and Reno, how seriously are they considering "cutting corners" to cut miles? For example, couldn't you lop off quite a few miles by heading directly northwest out of Goldfield toward Coaldale, bypassing Tonopah? (Sorry, Tonopah). Similarly, a new alignment off the east side of Walker Lake would not only cut miles, but probably engineering off building on the ledge of the Wassuk Range?

I get that there are some elevation challenges, but I remember every time I'd drive up US 95 in the past, looking longingly across the valley south/west of Tonopah and wishing I could just drive straight across it instead of going up the hill and down again.

[mcarling]

Question — as NDOT looks at the potential I-11 alignment between Vegas and Reno, how seriously are they considering "cutting corners" to cut miles?

No doubt there will be alternative alignments under consideration with opportunities for public comment.  I would tend to favor the most direct route.  I see no reason why I-11 should not follow an alignment nearer to Silver Peak than to Tonopah.

[Max Rockatansky]

One thing though is that the US 395 corridor would not be as good of a freight route. It spends a good deal of time getting through the Sierra Nevada. There are parts of that that would be difficult to get to Interstate standard. A route via US 95 is primarily through valleys (in the 'basin and range' geological construct that composes most of Nevada), and has potential to be shortened in Northwestern Nevada (depending on alignment chosen).

Question — as NDOT looks at the potential I-11 alignment between Vegas and Reno, how seriously are they considering "cutting corners" to cut miles? For example, couldn't you lop off quite a few miles by heading directly northwest out of Goldfield toward Coaldale, bypassing Tonopah? (Sorry, Tonopah). Similarly, a new alignment off the east side of Walker Lake would not only cut miles, but probably engineering off building on the ledge of the Wassuk Range?

I get that there are some elevation challenges, but I remember every time I'd drive up US 95 in the past, looking longingly across the valley south/west of Tonopah and wishing I could just drive straight across it instead of going up the hill and down again.

As nice as that would be there would need to be some new infrastructure development in Goldfield to support that.  Basically Goldfield doesn't even have an active gas station much (I think, certainly not chain) an active hotel.  Basically you'd have a 150 mile plus route from Beatty to Hawthrone with no services with that kind of alignment at present state.  That would be kind of interesting though considering Goldfield for all intents and purposes is a ghost town.

[roadfro]

One thing though is that the US 395 corridor would not be as good of a freight route. It spends a good deal of time getting through the Sierra Nevada. There are parts of that that would be difficult to get to Interstate standard. A route via US 95 is primarily through valleys (in the 'basin and range' geological construct that composes most of Nevada), and has potential to be shortened in Northwestern Nevada (depending on alignment chosen).

Question — as NDOT looks at the potential I-11 alignment between Vegas and Reno, how seriously are they considering "cutting corners" to cut miles? For example, couldn't you lop off quite a few miles by heading directly northwest out of Goldfield toward Coaldale, bypassing Tonopah? (Sorry, Tonopah). Similarly, a new alignment off the east side of Walker Lake would not only cut miles, but probably engineering off building on the ledge of the Wassuk Range?

I get that there are some elevation challenges, but I remember every time I'd drive up US 95 in the past, looking longingly across the valley south/west of Tonopah and wishing I could just drive straight across it instead of going up the hill and down again.

No doubt there will be alternative alignments under consideration with opportunities for public comment.  I would tend to favor the most direct route.  I see no reason why I-11 should not follow an alignment nearer to Silver Peak than to Tonopah.

I don't have an answer for you on that. I imagine that NDOT would want to cut some mileage. But there's also the attractiveness of re-purposing existing road beds to use as one side of the interstate to make things easier to construct (this is what NDOT did when widening US 95 to divided highway south of Boulder City several years ago: old roadbed was mostly regraded as one set of lanes). That's also a lot of right of way to consider...but they would be getting most of it from the BLM. It's still really early to speculate too hard though.


I don't know that they'd completely cut away from Tonopah...it being the only real bit of civilization in west-central Nevada. That would leave virtually nothing in the way of decent services between Beatty and Hawthorne. Silver Peak isn't really inhabited.

There are some areas that they could make more direct without cutting that off. I've always despised the US 6-95 overlap as there's an unnecessary arc northward there.

Not sure that you could go straight northwest out of Goldfield. There's some mountains to go around. But yes, by current roads it is shorter to go through Silver Peak...part of that is not currently state highway, and I've never gone that way to see what it's like.

Maneuvering around Hawthorne and Walker Lake may get a bit tricky with just how much land around Hawthorne belongs to the Army Depot. The east side of the lake would be easier to build a freeway through, but that might not be shorter, depending on how you get around the depot.