Private Bridge Will Open for Casino Traffic

A privately funded Colorado River bridge linking Bullhead City, Ariz., and the gaming community of Laughlin, Nev., will open to traffic next month, a spokesman for the casino owner who paid for it said Friday.

Ribbon-cutting ceremonies are scheduled for Monday, although various required inspections probably will delay the actual opening of the bridge until early June, said Ozzie Osborn, a spokesman for Don Laughlin.

The only link now for vehicle traffic between the two Colorado River cities is Davis Dam, a round trip of about 12 miles, Osborn said. Several years ago, he said, casino operators began using pontoon boats to ferry customers across the river from Bullhead City on Arizona’s western border.

“The ferries ultimately would have been shut down because they simply would begin to dominate river traffic,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons we built the bridge, to take some of the pressure off the ferries. But they will stay.”

Put Up $2.7 Million

Laughlin, who founded the resort town in extreme southern Nevada and owns the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino there, put up $2.7 million to pay for the four-lane, 750-foot-long bridge after Arizona and Nevada told him they had no plans to build one, Osborn said.

Laughlin founded the Laughlin-Bullhead City Foundation and funded it with $2.7 million to pay for the bridge, Osborn said.

Nevada agreed in 1985 to accept the bridge as part of its highway system if the bridge were built to state specifications, he said.

Even after Nevada agreed to accept the bridge, there were numerous obstacles to overcome, Osborn said. The major problem, he said, was that the project required the approval of 36 different local, state and federal agencies.

Harry Reed, the Arizona Transportation Department’s chief planner, said Laughlin put up all the money for the bridge. The only cost to the state of Arizona will be about $40,000 for a traffic light, he said.

Reed said the state of Nevada has agreed to assume responsibility for maintaining the bridge.