- Slug: BC-CNS-Bypass-Kingman
- Sidebar: Facts about Hoover Dam bypass and bridge
- Photos available (thumbnail, caption below)
- Multimedia: We will post a link Thursday to YouTube video
By REBECCA L. McCLAY
Cronkite News Service
KINGMAN – Alex McAfee, traffic manager for JM Eagle pipe manufacturer here, schedules dozens of truckloads a week carrying plastic pipes toward Las Vegas.
But instead of a straight shot north, contract truckers must go more than an hour out of their way because they cannot cross Hoover Dam.
McAfee is eager for the day the Hoover Dam bypass bridge will offers truckers a direct route between Kingman and Las Vegas. He expects the new route, which will open in November, to save JM Eagle $50 to $100 per truckload and $29,000 per year.
“All businesses here that ship out on trucks, they all have the same problem,” McAfee said. “Once this bypass gets done, it’s going to alleviate a lot of our problems. We’ve been anxiously waiting for this.”
The roughly six-mile bypass on U.S. Route 93 is touted as a way to improve safety and commuting time for 14,000 motorists daily, but government officials and Kingman businesses are anticipating an economic boost for this area.
JM Eagle transports more than 20 percent of its plastic pipes toward Las Vegas, McAfee said.
“Kingman is a town that ships out material,” McAfee said. “Truck drivers [from Las Vegas] are reluctant to come here to pick up loads due to the fact that they have to travel three hours just to get here. … It actually affects us a lot.”
Since commercial trucks were banned from crossing Hoover Dam after 9/11, truckers have been forced 25 miles out of their way down U.S. Highway 95 through Bullhead City, Ariz., and Laughlin, Nev. When the bypass opens, the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge will accommodate 18-wheelers.
City officials hope the faster route will pull Kingman’s economy out of a slump triggered by the stalled housing market. Like JM Eagle, many other local manufacturing companies could save thousands of dollars in trucking expenses each year.
Between 15 and 20 percent of exports from Kingman are delivered to Las Vegas or beyond, according to the Mohave County Economic Development Department.
Commercial development catering to the roughly 2,000 additional 18-wheelers expected along the route each day will be the most immediate economic impact to the area, said Kevin Davidson, a planner with the department.
“We’ll first see truck-related growth like gas stations and truck stops,” Davidson said.
A bypass should give a much-needed lift to Kingman’s housing market as well as many other local industries struggling to recover from the recession, said Pamela Wilkinson, newly installed president and CEO of the Kingman Area Chamber of Commerce.
“That bridge will be a catalyst for more business here in Kingman and its surrounding areas,” Wilkinson said. “I prefer to think that we have hit rock bottom and we can only go up.”
A bypass could also revive the city’s hopes for population growth and a healthy housing market.
Several years ago, the Kingman area had a number of housing projects in the pipeline, such as Rhode Homes’ Pravada master-planned community of 30,000 homes and a Mardian Group development with 48,000 homes.
The area, including Golden Valley just north of Kingman, was expecting about 60,000 homes through master-planned communities, and roughly 20,000 pre-platted lots were ready for construction or mobile homes, Davidson said. Developers were expecting spillover from Las Vegas’ booming housing market and hoped the bypass would draw even more homebuyers.
“We have a tremendous potential in the valley for housing growth,” Davidson said. “Although, there’s still quite a bit of construction activity to occur.”
Kingman may still see strong population growth if developers market the communities well, said Todd Tarson, a real estate agent and former Kingman planning and zoning commissioner.
Tarson said he doubts Kingman could ever serve as a bedroom community for Las Vegas because of the two-hour commute. Instead, he thinks Kingman needs to make itself a destination and promote diverse development.
“The national economy has been bad for a lot of folks and it’s no different here,” Tarson said. “This is a nice regional type of area where there are some opportunities and, in my view, it’s time to compete for them. … My sense of this community is that it’s a blank slate.”
Nestled in the heart of Historic Route 66, Kingman heavily promotes its ties to the famous cross-country highway.
“With the opening of the Hoover Dam bypass, we expect to see more [tourists] coming back into the area,” said Joshua Noble, director of tourism at the Kingman Chamber of Commerce. “It’s a big industry in Kingman.”
In addition to restricting 18-wheelers, 9/11 security restrictions also banned buses carrying luggage from crossing the dam. Previously, about two bus tours each day stopped at the Historic Route 66 Museum in Kingman’s Powerhouse Visitor Center, but Noble said lately the center is lucky to see 10 tours in a month.
“I would think that everything will be better,” said Wilkinson of the Chamber of Commerce. “More people have an opportunity to get to Kingman and visit our Powerhouse. Hey, that’s a good thing.”
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Facts about the Hoover Dam bypass project
By Cronkite News Service
– Cost: $240 million, funded by state and federal dollars.
– Opening: Scheduled for early November.
– Benefits: Designed to improve safety by eliminating sharp turns, narrow shoulders and poor visibility that often cause long delays.
– The Bridge: The Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge cost about $114 million and is perched nearly 900 feet above the Colorado River.
– Opening: A one-day event Oct. 16 will allow pedestrians to walk on the bridge. Details at www.celebratehooverdam.com” www.celebratehooverdam.com.
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Alex McAfee, traffic manager for JM Eagle, a pipe manufacturer in Kingman, said his firm will save $50 to $100 on every load of plastic pipe it ships to Las Vegas once the Hoover Dam bypass opens. Commercial truck traffic over the dam was halted after 9/11, forcing a detour through Laughlin, Nev. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Rebecca McClay)
Plastic pipe is loaded on a truck at JM Eagle in Kingman. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Rebecca McClay)
A sign advertises land in Kingman. Before the downturn, tens of thousands of homes were planned in the area. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Rebecca McClay)
Joshua Noble, director of tourism at the Kingman Chamber of Commerce, said he looks forward to the Hoover Dam bypass making it easier for tourists to travel between Las Vegas and Kingman. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Rebecca McClay)
A motel sign promotes Kingman’s Route 66 heritage. (Cronkite News Service Photo by Rebecca McClay)