Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony is persisting in a seven‑year campaign to dismantle carpool lanes on Las Vegas freeways.
Anthony, who also serves as vice chair of the Nevada Department of Transportation’s committee of directors, has pursued the removal of high‑occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes since 2019, a goal that traces back to his tenure as a Las Vegas city councilman.
Last year he secured a two‑year study with federal officials to assess whether HOV lanes could be eliminated on sections of I‑15 and I‑11.
“I committed to instrumentality a look astatine eliminating the HOV lanes; that’s truly my last objective,” Anthony told the Review‑Journal. “We person to look astatine biology issues. We person to look astatine national law. We person to look astatine enforcement action. We person to look astatine each the grants that were fixed to physique the roads 30 years ago. So, we person to spell done each that paperwork to find retired if we can.”
He said a definitive answer will take another year.
“Nobody successful the state has ever gone done this process to effort to destruct HOV lanes,” Anthony said. “We’re the archetypal ones to really spell done it. So it’ll beryllium absorbing to find retired what the result is.”
Eliminating the lanes would affect left‑hand exit/entry points, including the HOV drop lanes on I‑15 at Harmon Avenue and at the Neon Gateway, farther northbound near Charleston Boulevard—features added as part of Project Neon in 2019.
Anthony noted the study will determine any fiscal repercussions with the federal government, given that a portion of Project Neon’s funding was contingent on retaining HOV lanes.
While the review proceeds, Anthony imposed time‑based restrictions in 2023, limiting HOV‑only use to 6 a.m.–8 a.m. and 4 p.m.–6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“The remainder of the time, radical should beryllium utilizing them,” Anthony said. “People should beryllium getting connected those lanes to get quicker to work, to get quicker to school, to spell quicker to wherever they’re going. So they’re virtually gone from erstwhile they were started, but I’m inactive going done the process to get escaped of them, and we’ll find retired successful astir a twelvemonth oregon so.”
The HOV lanes debuted on I‑15 in 2019 alongside existing lanes on I‑11 under Project Neon. Initial rules required two or more occupants 24 hours a day, seven days a week; they were later narrowed to 5 a.m.–10 p.m. daily and finally to the current two‑hour morning and evening windows.
Anthony reports favorable feedback on the reduced hours.
“Everybody comes up to maine and says, convey you for opening up the HOV lanes, wherever postulation is flowing better,” helium said. “People are precise thankful that they got escaped of these HOV lanes, due to the fact that they cognize that it wasn’t changing anybody’s driving habits. Nobody was calling up their neighbour and saying, ‘Hey, let’s spell to enactment unneurotic truthful we tin usage the HOV lane.’ Nobody was doing that, and radical understood that. So they’re conscionable thankful that their taxation dollars paid for that
Sincity Press Staff
1 day ago 3 min read
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English (US)·