The city of Sparks, located east of Reno in Nevada, has put forth a proposal for the construction of a 13-mile toll road under a public-private partnership (P3) model. The estimated cost of the project is around $500 million, and the plan involves forming a partnership between the Washoe County Regional Transportation Commission and Sparks to design, build, operate, finance, and maintain the toll road. However, for this proposal to move forward, state lawmakers in Nevada would need to approve the concept, as the current state law prohibits the imposition of tolls on roads involved in P3s.
The proposal has been described as “bold” by Baruch Feigenbaum, a senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. He commended the mayor of Sparks for his outside-the-box thinking and expressed a wish for more officials to adopt a similar approach to tackling traffic issues. Nevada has limited legislation that allows larger cities to engage in P3s for transportation projects, with the Brightline West project being a notable example. However, privately financed toll roads and bridges are still banned in the state, with previous bills aiming to grant broad authority for toll roads having been rejected by lawmakers.
In order for the Sparks toll road proposal to proceed, an exemption from the state’s ban on privately financed toll roads would need to be granted by the Legislature. While a precedent exists for such exemptions, as seen in the 2011 case involving Boulder City, securing adequate state and federal funding for the project could prove to be a significant obstacle. Feigenbaum highlighted the potential difficulties in securing state funding for a project in a primarily rural area, emphasizing the competitive landscape for federal grants and the likelihood of facing strong competition from non-tolled projects.
Although a draft bill request is in the works, it remains to be seen whether lawmakers and the Nevada Department of Transportation will throw their support behind the Sparks toll road proposal. The success of the initiative could hinge on the level of backing from the local state delegation, with Feigenbaum suggesting that based on historical trends, state lawmakers might be open to considering the proposal. However, the actual outcome remains uncertain until the proposal is officially presented to the Legislature for consideration.
The Sparks City proposal for Nevada’s first toll road represents a bold and unconventional approach to addressing transportation challenges in the region. While the initiative has garnered praise for its innovative thinking, it also faces significant obstacles in terms of legislative approval and securing necessary funding. Whether this ambitious proposal will ultimately come to fruition or be met with roadblocks along the way remains to be seen. Only time will tell if the Sparks toll road will pave the way for a new era of transportation development in Nevada or if it will remain a visionary idea that never materializes.