The Mineral County Commissioners met with Mark Nixon, Chairman of the Mineral County Planning Commission and Lt. Col. Gregory Gibbons of the Hawthorne Army Depot in regards to the proposed I-11 and Intermountain West Corridor.

The I-11 and Intermountain West Corridor would serve as a critical infrastructure to connect the economies of Arizona and Nevada.

It would serve as the north-south transportation route and enable a transportation route between the Sonoran Desert and the Pacific Northwest, which links Mexico to Canada, therefore connecting such large areas as Phoenix, Ariz. and Las Vegas.

“What I am asking Mineral County is? Where do we want it to go here? Do we want it to go to the base? “ Lt. Col. Gregory Gibbons Hawthorne Army Depot

Nixon explained that he would like to see that Mineral County is not “left” behind in the development of this infrastructure.

Gibbons explained the depot’s point of interest on the I-11 project and explained that he has met with the Department of Transportation.

He explained the rail system used at the depot and how the railroad in Mineral County is influential in the building of this infrastructure.

Gibbons stated, “Right now they don’t know where it [I-11] will go.”

Questions on the appointment of a new commander and their support of this project had Gibbons saying, “Number one, I have great interest and I will fight to have a rail and a road and a its [I-11] is a power line too. It’s not only I-11, but an infrastructure corridor (power and internet).”

In a handout from the Nevada and Arizona Departments of Transportation, the question of “Is the corridor worth the investment?” was posed.

The answer to that question as, “This investment is assumed to be significant, but is difficult to precisely quantify, therefore a multifaceted approach was used to compare the estimated costs against the potential travel and economic benefits of an I-11 and Intermountain West Corridor.”

“What I am asking Mineral County is? Where do we want it to go here?” Gibbons questioned the commissioners.

“Do we want it to go to the base? My question to the community is – it is 11 miles away from the community. Is that what we want? But where do you want this four-lane highway to go? I have enough bunkers where we can open up that area and push my fence line back because I do have an interest. Our employees come from the community. If there are more businesses here, there is more expertise, there is more supervisors, there is more education and more business, I have a workforce to draw from.”

“I believe we need to make a town hall meeting. We need to discuss what we want with our community. Unite with the tribe. We tell them what we want,” Gibbons said.

A town hall meeting discussing the I-11 and Intermountain West Corridor will be held on March 30 at 6 p.m. at the Hawthorne Community Center.