Nevada would get its first toll road under a public-private partnership floated by the town of Sparks.

State lawmakers would want to approve the move, as Nevada law currently bans fees on roads which are a part of P3s.

Town manager of Sparks, situated just east of Reno, has proposed a 13-mile toll road that might be built under a P3 model and is preparing a draft bill request to advance the proposal, in line with local reports. The request would allow the Washoe County Regional Transportation Commission and Sparks to enter right into a design-build-operate-finance-and-maintain P3 and issue bonds for the highway, which carries an estimated $500 million price tag, in line with local reports.

The mayor didn’t return requests for comment.

“It’s pretty daring,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. “We do not see proposals like that that much and for a mayor to provide you with this proposal as a traffic solution is a daring motion on his part. I wish more city, state and federal officials had such a outside-the-box considering.”

“We do not see proposals like that that much and for a mayor to provide you with this proposal as a traffic solution is a daring motion on his part,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation.

Reason Foundation

Nevada has limited P3-enabling laws that, for instance, allows larger cities to enter into P3s for transportation projects. And the Brightline West project, a high-speed train between Nevada and California, marks the state’s highest profile public-private partnership.

But a ban stays on privately financed toll roads and bridges, and lawmakers have killed previous bills that might allow broad authority for toll roads within the state. The Legislature would want to grant Sparks an exemption from its ban on privately financed toll roads.

There may be precedent for that move. In 2011, the Legislature passed  Senate Bill 506 that granted Boulder City permission to construct a tolled bypass road through a P3 that connects I-515 to the Hoover Dam. Ultimately, nonetheless, the town tapped federal funds to construct the bypass, avoiding the necessity for personal financing.

Snagging sufficient state and federal funds could also be tougher for the Sparks’ proposal, which is in a largely rural, although growing, area, Feigenbaum noted.

“The quantity of state funding they might get to construct this road could be an actual challenge,” Feigenbaum said. Town could apply for a federal grant, but it surely would likely face stiff competition from non-tolled projects, he said.

“So mayor wants one other source and this can be a pretty logical method to go,” he said.

The draft bill proposal has yet to be sent to the Legislature, in line with local reports, so it stays to be seen if lawmakers and the Nevada Department of Transportation will support it. It likely relies on support from the local state delegation, Feigenbaum said.

“History would suggest [state lawmakers] could be amenable,” he said. “But when there’s opposition within the local delegation, it will be an issue.”