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Purpose
& Overview
 Prior to
completion of this project, the existing route of U.S. 93 used
the top of Hoover Dam to cross the Colorado River. U.S. Highway
93 is the major commercial corridor between the states of
Arizona, Nevada, and Utah; it is also on the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) route between Mexico and Canada. U.S. 93
was identified as a high priority corridor in the National
Highway System Designation Act of 1995. The traffic congestion
caused by the inadequacy of the existing highway across the dam
imposed a serious economic burden on the states of Arizona,
Nevada, and Utah.
The traffic volumes, combined with the sharp curves on U.S. 93
in the vicinity of Hoover Dam, created a potentially dangerous
situation. A major catastrophe could occur, involving innocent
bystanders, millions of dollars in property damage to the dam
and its facilities, contamination of the waters of Lake Mead or
the Colorado River, and interruption of the power and water
supply for people in the Southwest.
By developing an alternate crossing of the river near Hoover
Dam, through-vehicle and truck traffic are removed from the top
of the dam. This new route eliminates the problems with the
former highway--sharp turns, narrow roadways, inadequate
shoulders, poor sight distance, and low travel speeds.
The purpose of the project was to accomplish the following
objectives:
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Minimize the potential for pedestrian-vehicle accidents on the dam
crest and on the Nevada and Arizona approaches to the dam.
·
Remove a major bottleneck to interstate and international commerce
and travel in the west by reducing traffic congestion and
accidents in this segment of the major commercial route between
Phoenix and Las Vegas.
·
Replace an inadequate highway river crossing with a new crossing
that meets current roadway design criteria and improves
through-vehicle and truck traffic capacity on U.S. 93 at the
dam.
·
Reduce travel time in the dam vicinity.
·
Protect Hoover Dam employees, visitors, equipment, power generation
capabilities and Colorado River waters, while enhancing the
visitors’ experience at Hoover Dam by:
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Safeguarding dam and power plant facilities and the waters of Lake
Mead and the Colorado River from hazardous spills or explosions.
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Protecting the dam and power plant facilities from interruptions in
electricity and water delivery.
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Providing improved conditions for operating and maintaining Hoover
Dam facilities.
http://www.hooverdambypass.org/purpose_overview.htm |
