NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV — The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) recently awarded a $99-million construction contract to Fisher Sand & Gravel to build ramps, flyovers and street connections at Interstate 15 and the 215 Beltway in North Las Vegas. (The contractor was also responsible for completing the first section of Interstate 11 in 2018). The new direct system-to-system interchange will greatly improve traffic, enhance safety and increase mobility.

The project entails building two massive cast-in-place concrete dual lane flyovers, among other structures, including a 51-foot-tall, 1,800-foot-long east-to-north connection that will be the equivalent of five football fields laid end-to-end. The northbound I-15 to westbound 215 flyover, meanwhile, will be longer than the Eiffel Tower laid on its side. The structures sit atop a network of drilled pilings that reinforce the subsurface, with the largest measuring 10-foot in diameter and 104-foot in depth. Atkins is the project designer.

The improvements also entail new I-15 southbound on- and off-ramps at Tropical Parkway for greater access as well as widening over a half mile of Beltway from four to six travel lanes. Other upgrades call for extending Tropical Parkway to Centennial Parkway, replacing Range Road as an east-west surface connection, with a new eastbound 215 Beltway off-ramp to the new Centennial Parkway and Range Road intersection.

Additionally, there will be new lighting, signage and landscaping, plus 7,815 feet of drainage pipe. Lage Design is the landscape architect responsible for the new freeway aesthetics made up of boulders and decorative rock, accented by colorful polygonal roadside sculptures that convey the characteristics of water and its impact upon shaping both the natural and built environments.

The interchange currently averages about 34,000 vehicles daily, although future traffic counts are expected to grow by 72 percent over the next two decades. The project, whose work area covers nearly two miles, will break ground during the first quarter with anticipated completion in late 2022. The enhancements are 95 percent funded by the federal government with the state providing the remaining monies.

Motorists should use caution while travelling through the work zone, heed construction signage and take alternate detour routes, if possible. NDOT works with Waze to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but unscheduled construction changes, closures and restrictions are possible due to weather or other factors.

Excavation: 128,966 cubic yards
Painting: 77,687 square yards
Rock mulch: 49,675 cubic yards
Decorative boulders: 48
Plants: 32
Decorative rock: 3,648 tons
Reinforcing steel: 7 million pounds
Concrete pipe: 7,815 lineal feet
Aggregate road base: 115,657 tons
Concrete paving: 2,918 lineal feet
Asphalt paving: 74,549 tons
Concrete barrier rail: 38,877 lineal feet