A $1 billion highway project in downtown Las Vegas known appropriately enough as Project Neon, the largest public works project in Nevada’s history, was recently completed and celebrated on Thursday at a ribbon cutting ceremony.
“This critical investment ensures that we meet the state’s growing infrastructure needs while creating thousands of good-paying local jobs that stimulate Nevada’s economy,” said Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak. “Project Neon greatly improves traffic congestion, motorist safety and commuter delays, thereby improving the quality of life for all Nevadans while improving visitor experiences to our state.”
Tony Illia, public information officer for the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT), said the more than 3-year undertaking, which focused on a 3.7-mile stretch of I-15 between Sahara Avenue and the Spaghetti Bowl interchange in downtown Las Vegas, addressed the state’s busiest stretch of freeway with 300,000 cars daily. That amount of traffic – roughly one-tenth of the state’s population – and 25,000 lane changes hourly, culminated in three crashes per day.
“The upgrades greatly improve efficiency and reliability, reducing travel delays and improving air quality from less idle time and vehicle exhaust,” Illia said. He also emphasized motorist safety benefits, including less merging and weaving traffic. “The improvements are timely with traffic through the corridor expected to double during the next two decades.” Additionally, the project added ramp capacity for more efficient movement of traffic for reduced freeway backups.
According to NDOT, major components of the project included building a new 20-mile-plus High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) network. Specifically, the project created an HOV direct connect between U.S. 95 and I-15; conversion of express lanes on I-15 to one HOV lane and one general purpose lane; and a Neon Gateway interchange for HOV and rapid transit use, along with other extensions and interchanges.
The project also will include new surface street connections and better access to downtown Las Vegas. What’s more, average traffic speeds without Project Neon improvements on NB I-15 would be 28 miles per hour, but they are expected to jump to 60 miles per hour with the improvements.
Project Neon entailed 63 lane miles of concrete and asphalt paving, with 29 new bridges and 10 miles of drainage improvements, stated NDOT. New north-south surface street connections reduce congestion and better provide downtown Las Vegas access, including connecting Western Avenue to Charleston Boulevard where it previously hit a dead-end. And a new bridge now carries Industrial Road over the Union Pacific railroad tracks between Wyoming Avenue and Charleston Boulevard.
The project itself was completed ahead of schedule. “We adopted a design-build approach that delivered the project nearly a year earlier than originally anticipated for nearly $80 million in time savings for local taxpayers,” said NDOT Director Kristina Swallow.
Project NEON was mainly funded through state revenue bonds, according to NDOT, and federal funds will help retire the bond debt. The city of Las Vegas is contributing about $75 million in federal highway funds towards the project.
The project also created 4,000 direct, indirect and induced local jobs.
“This project represents the future of transportation in Nevada. Project Neon will serve as a shining beacon, letting commuters and tourists alike know that Las Vegas is open for business,” said U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who spoke at the ceremony.