US 93 Hoover Dam Bypass

[Dr Frankenstein]

Usually, exit numbers are reversed when a section of freeway can be extended southwards or westwards in the future. This is to avoid renumbering if that happens.

Example: ON-417.

[myosh_tino]

Usually, exit numbers are reversed when a section of freeway can be extended southwards or westwards in the future. This is to avoid renumbering if that happens.

Example: ON-417.

OK, I guess that makes sense.  I thought US 93 went all the way to Phoenix but when I checked a map, it ends northwest of Phoenix in Wickenburg.  If US 93 were to become I-11, I suspect that the route would be extended into Phoenix which would require renumbering the exits based on the current mileage of US 93.

[mapman1071]

Edit: One other thing I noticed.  While the Hoover Dam exit from US 93 is numbered appropriately (Exit 2), the first exit on the Arizona side is also Exit 1 (or 2, can't remember).  I'm pretty sure US 93 is a north-south highway so wouldn't Exit 1 (or 2) be located at US 93's southern terminus or does Arizona number exits from north-to-south rather than south-to-north?

The Arizona exit is Exit 2 (Kingman Wash Access Road).

The Wikipedia article on US 93 in AZ indicates mileage increases from south to north, but I've seen ADOT press releases on the construction work that indicate the opposite.

Isn't that a little odd?  A quick peek at the Arizona freeway system leads me to believe exit numbers increase from south to north (i.e. I-17) or west to east (i.e. US 60).  Why US 93 is different puzzles me.  I guess it's just an Arizona oddity.

US 93 In Arizona From Hoover Dam To US 66 (Kingman) Was Part Of The Much Longer US 466 (Morro Bay, CA to Kingman, AZ via Fresno & Barstow CA & Las Vegas, NV)
US 466 was Decertified  In Arizona In 1969, In California In 1970 and Nevada in 1971
US 466 Is East/West

In Arizona US 93 uses the mile markers of the former US 466

[J N Winkler]

Yup, Arizona is a special case where it comes to mileposting and exit numbering--the starting milepost of I-17 is 194, for example, since I-17 covers old SR 69 mileage and SR 69's milepointing was projected back to the start of I-17 to obtain I-17's mileposts between its start and the current SR 69 interchange.

[AZDude]

Oh wow, the divided section has been extended!  I didn't know that! I haven't been through that section in almost three years.  Thanks for the video, 5 stars! 

[Kniwt]

The Las Vegas Sun has a report about the sharp increase in traffic through Boulder City now that the bridge is open. One possibility being considered by Nevada DOT is reinstating the post-9/11 detour for commercial traffic, forcing trucks to travel through Laughlin and Searchlight to US 95. The problem is the lack of a bypass around Boulder City:

The problem with constructing the bypass, said Jacob Snow, general manager of the RTC, has always been funding. Rudy Malfabon, deputy director for NDOT in Southern Nevada, estimated it would cost $360 million to build.

[Alps]

The Las Vegas Sun has a report about the sharp increase in traffic through Boulder City now that the bridge is open. One possibility being considered by Nevada DOT is reinstating the post-9/11 detour for commercial traffic, forcing trucks to travel through Laughlin and Searchlight to US 95. The problem is the lack of a bypass around Boulder City:

The problem with constructing the bypass, said Jacob Snow, general manager of the RTC, has always been funding. Rudy Malfabon, deputy director for NDOT in Southern Nevada, estimated it would cost $360 million to build.

I fail to see where US 93 drops to two lanes in Boulder City.  Looks like a four lane highway to me, contrary to the article's assertion.  Plenty of room to make sure it is, too.

[Kniwt]

The road drops to three lanes (two uphill, one downhill) just past the main intersection in central Boulder City. And at the bottom of the fairly steep hill (I've done it both directions on a bicycle, ouch), which may or may not technically still be in Boulder City, it's two lanes for a couple of miles past the final casino and until the beginning of the new bypass. (I looked at Google Maps, but their pics seem to have been taken right after the highway was resurfaced and not yet striped.)

And whether the highway (which itself was a "bypass" to begin with) is two, three, or four lanes, it's packed with intersections, signals, and local traffic, all of which make the case for another bypass.

[Alps]

The road drops to three lanes (two uphill, one downhill) just past the main intersection in central Boulder City. And at the bottom of the fairly steep hill (I've done it both directions on a bicycle, ouch), which may or may not technically still be in Boulder City, it's two lanes for a couple of miles past the final casino and until the beginning of the new bypass. (I looked at Google Maps, but their pics seem to have been taken right after the highway was resurfaced and not yet striped.)

I see.  Looks like a four-lane road with the third lane striped out for left turns, is the problem.  I also noticed the 2-lane section east of Boulder City but it didn't seem like that was the focus of the article - it implied that the lanes dropped inside town.

And whether the highway (which itself was a "bypass" to begin with) is two, three, or four lanes, it's packed with intersections, signals, and local traffic, all of which make the case for another bypass.

That certainly I wouldn't dispute, but it wasn't the focus of the article.

[roadfro]

What seems to be the major bottleneck is the main intersection at Nevada Way and Buchannan Blvd in Boulder City, as US 93 turns at this intersection. Another issue is the two-lane section from where the developed city peters out heading towards the dam down to the exit for Hoover Dam where the dam bypass project started--the implication in the article that US 93 is only two lanes through Boulder City is false, however.  In any event, an article about this issue in the Las Vegas Review Journal on Thursday stated that the RTC wanted to declare "state of emergency" be declared in Boulder City to bring attention to the traffic problem...that seems very extreme to me.

NDOT has recently made some interim improvements along that northeast section within Boulder City to provide some safer access and merging space for the homes that are located just off of 93--so again, the implication that no improvements have happened in Boulder City on US 93 is false. US 95 south of BC was upgraded to divided highway in that time frame though, but that was due in large part to all the diverted traffic that had to go through Laughlin after 9/11, and was fast tracked because probably 95% of it was built in existing right of way in open desert.

In any case, the major relief the town seeks will come from the US 93 Boulder City Bypass. With the final EIS having selected the southern bypass alternative (which will take US 93 way south of Boulder City and through rugged mountain terrain on the east), finding the funding to construct this is going to take years. In my view, Boulder City residents brought their current plight on themselves by pushing for the southern bypass alignment--the through-town freeway alternative would have had a much smaller footprint, used about half the existing right of way through town, and probably could have been built quicker for about 1/3 the estimated cost of the southern alignment. Had the through-town option been chosen, as business leaders had wanted, I believe there's a high likelihood that it would be getting ready to bid or be under construction by now.