Nevada Department of Transportation Director Tracy Larkin-Thomason explains why the state's 5,400 miles of highway face a growing maintenance challenge — and what it will take to keep pace with explosive population growth, a surging mining industry, and stalled infrastructure funding. With a fuel tax unchanged since 1993 and construction inflation exceeding 60%, the gap between what Nevada roads need and what the highway fund can deliver is widening every year.

The conversation covers NDOT's full scope of operations, from managing 1,200 bridges and 50 fueling stations to coordinating emergency response across four states after the 2024 I-15 closure that shut down northbound traffic into Las Vegas for 48 hours. Larkin-Thomason details six new interchanges planned along I-15 from the California state line to Sloan, ten more between Kyle Canyon and Mercury, and the challenges of building new capacity while the existing system erodes.

Brightline West, the $3 billion high-speed rail project connecting Rancho Cucamonga to Las Vegas, has finalized all contracts and encroachment permits with NDOT. Larkin-Thomason calls it one of the first passenger rail expansions into the interior West and a nationally significant infrastructure milestone. The episode also addresses Nevada's critical mineral boom — with 13 essential minerals, lithium extraction at Thacker Pass, and new operations near Tonopah and Beatty — and the strain that mining super loads, workforce housing shortages, and heavy truck traffic place on two-lane rural highways.

Larkin-Thomason, a 30-year NDOT veteran who rose from tech trainee to director, outlines the agency's legislative priorities heading into the 2027 session. The highway fund currently splits revenue among NDOT, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Department of Public Safety, with 67% of the transportation program funded by federal dollars. Deferred projects now stretch past 2035, and the director frames the state's central question plainly: decide what Nevada should look like in 20 years, then fund the infrastructure to match.