Ticket to Ride/Nevada Undergoes a Roads and Highways Building Boom

摘要

Nevada's population boom coupled with its popularity as a tourist destination is driving the demand for new and expanded roadways. The state grew by 4.1 percent to 2.296 million residents last year, and it's expected to add another 798,193 people by 2022, said Jeff Hardcastle, the state demographer . In addition, there were nearly 40 million visitors to Nevada in 2003. As a result, the number of vehicle miles traveled in the state has increased by 73 percent during the last decade, according to The Road Information Program, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit research group. The Nevada Department of Transportation, which maintains 5,485 mi. of highway and 1,004 bridges, has its hands full. But last year, Gov. Kenny Guinn, who also serves as chairman of the state Transportation Board, unveiled an ambitious 1.3 billion dollars, two-year roads and highways building program.