Lawmakers OK $100 million bond to help untangle the Spaghetti Bowl (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 12/9/13)
A state Transportation Department request for authority to use $100 million in bond proceeds to buy right-of-way for the Interstate 15 widening project called Project Neon won approval Monday from lawmakers.
The approval came despite questions and skepticism from some lawmakers about the public-private partnership the agency would enter as a way to speed construction and build the project in four or five years, with completion in 2020.
The project will be the largest in the agency’s history and could end up costing $1.3 billion.
Project Neon has been talked about for close to a decade now. It is the proposed upgrade of I-15 between Sahara Ave and the Las Vegas Spaghetti Bowl (junction I-515/US 93/US 95). This is the busiest stretch of interstate in Nevada, with about 250,000 vehicle trips per day.
Proposed improvements under Project Neon include: mainline I-15 widening, braided ramps and collector-distributor roads along this section of I-15, addition of HOV lanes on I-15, an HOV direct-connect flyover to the HOV lane on US 95, complete reconstruction/reconfiguration of the substandard Charleston Blvd interchange, new access to local streets via an HOV interchange and a new half-interchange (enhancing mobility into the growing Symphony Park shopping/entertainment/business district), new linkages between arterial roads parallel to I-15, and various other improvements.
The proposed construction method is a new one for NDOT, which would enter a public-private partnership in which the private partner constructs the improvements and maintains it for several years, while the state pays for it over time. Supposedly, this would allow NDOT to get these improvements done in a much shorter period of time rather than typical methods.
The state has been slowly purchasing needed parcels for a few years. I think this bond money would let them move forward more rapidly to obtain the rest of the right of way needed.
Project website:
www.ndotprojectneon.com