The federal transportation trust fund remains moored as competing interests in Congress wrangle over spending priorities. Meanwhile, transportation agencies, anticipating a resurgence in cargo as the Panama Canal is expanded and as the economy improves, are moving forward with united interests, despite uncertainties over funding.
Four years ago, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation granted $15 million to Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah to begin studying some 840 miles of Interstate 15 for optimal freight movement, part of its Corridors of the Future program, which is now in limbo as it awaits further funding. But Susan Martinovich, director of the Nevada Dept. of Transportation, saw no reason to stop planning for the future.