FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       
Thursday, March 22, 2001 
Contact:  Dave Zanetell
Tel.:        303-716-2157
Contact:  Karen Whitney
Tel.:        202-366-0660
FHWA 12-01

FHWA Approves Record Of Decision Advancing Hoover Dam Bypass Project
Sugarloaf Mountain Alternative Selected

  LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) yesterday signed a Record of Decision (ROD) allowing the long-awaited Hoover Dam Bypass project to proceed. 

  The ROD is the final step in the process of determining the route the bypass will follow.  The ROD officially names the Sugarloaf Mountain alternative as the best alternative to minimize environmental impacts, resolve traffic congestion and accidents at the dam, and increase protection of the dam and waters of the Colorado River.

The project will eliminate a major bottleneck on U.S. 93, a major traffic route between Phoenix and Las Vegas and part of the National Highway System. It will reroute trucks and through traffic, preventing them from traveling across Hoover Dam, a route that was completed in 1936.

The bypass will be a four-lane, divided highway about 3.2 miles long that will include numerous wildlife crossings as well as a 1,900-foot bridge that will cross the Colorado River at a height of more than 900 feet. Construction is scheduled to start in late 2002 and take about five years to complete.  It is budgeted at $198 million.

The ROD represents the conclusion of 10 years of project development, environmental studies, public input and negotiations between the seven entities involved with the project: the states of Arizona and Nevada, the National Park Service, the Western Area Power Administration, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Lower Colorado Dam Facilities Office, and the FHWA.

The complete environmental document and the ROD are available for review on the project website www.hooverdambypass.org and at the following locations: Boulder City Public Library, Boulder City, Nev.; Bullhead City Public Library, Bullhead City, Ariz.; Clark County Public Library, Las Vegas, Nev.; and Green Valley Public Library, Henderson, Nev.

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