River Cities Business Journal: Construction

NEws West

BULLHEAD CITY - Bullhead City officials got a wake up call regarding a second bridge when they traveled to Washington, D.C. in March.

Vice Mayor John Anderson, Council member J.B. Wise and Assistant City Manager Susan Betts attended the National League of Cities conference March 10-14. They met with Arizona senators John McCain and Jon Kyl, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid and District 2 U.S. Rep. Trent Franks.

Anderson, Wise and Betts heard the same refrain wherever they went in regards to Reid's $20 million earmark for the new bridge: Use it or lose it.

If the project does not show “substantial progress” the money could be re-routed to another project in another state, they were told. The $20 million appropriation only runs through 2009. “I think the city's come back with a new sense of urgency on getting things going,” Wise said.

That urgency includes narrowing the number of potential bridge sites down from five to two or three, Anderson said. Because of the passage of the eminent domain Proposition 207 in November - making urban renewal projects more difficult - Anderson only sees two viable sites where demolition of houses would not be required: Riverview Drive and the proposed Bullhead Parkway extension into the new Mohave Crossroads shopping center on Highway 95 near the city's southern border.

Bullhead City Manager Tim Ernster is trying to set up a meeting with Laughlin Town Manager Jackie Brady for sometime next week to discuss the new realities facing the two communities.

“If we don't start moving on this, it would almost be criminal if that $20 million disappeared,” Anderson said. “We have a lot of work to do and a lot of agreements to be made quickly.”

What's more, the city cannot expect a $20 million windfall from McCain and Kyl, like Nevada got from Reid. “They made it clear they do not like earmarks, they will not support them,” Anderson said.