News:

Thank you for your patience during the Forum downtime while we upgraded the software. Welcome back and see this thread for some new features and other changes to the forum.

Main Menu

I-11/US 93 - Boulder City Bypass

Started by roadfro, March 27, 2015, 11:59:24 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

roadfro

Quote from: sparker on July 22, 2018, 01:47:14 PM
Quote from: roadfro on July 21, 2018, 08:12:47 PM
Apparently, there was an opportunity for the public to ride bikes on I-11 today...although unlike other similar infrastructure opening events held by NDOT, this one had a fee to participate.

Las Vegas bicyclists gear up for special ride on Interstate 11, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 7/19/18
Quote
Bicyclists will rule the road on Saturday morning, when just about anyone will be allowed to pedal along most of Interstate 11 before it opens to vehicle traffic.

Motorists won't be allowed to travel along I-11 until Aug. 9, but bicyclists will be allowed to access the country's newest interstate from 6 to 9 a.m. during an event sponsored by the Southern Nevada Bicycle Coalition.
<...>
The cost is $20 to participate, with funds going toward the Southern Nevada Bicycle Coalition's safety advocacy campaign.
<...>
NDOT's 2 ½-mile concrete segment of I-11 opened in late May. The RTC plans to open its 12 1/2 -mile asphalt section of the freeway on Aug. 9, allowing drivers to bypass Boulder City on the way to the Hoover Dam.

EDIT: Another article with pictures from the event:
Las Vegas Valley bicyclists celebrate new Interstate 11 segment, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 7/21/18

Within the "I-49/Arkansas" thread over in Mid-South, there's been a discussion about a specific form of rumble strip consisting of shallow rectangles cut out of the pavement just to the outside of the lane marker; on that segment (Bella Vista) of I-49 those were concrete.  If you look at the video cited immediately above (the bicycle ride), it appears that the method has found its way to NV, but with asphalt cutouts.  This is a departure from the former normative methodology consisting of narrow lateral slots a foot or two to the outside of the lane edges.  Having not driven much in the way of new -alignment freeway pavement in the last few years, I haven't come across this type of rumble strip (although the premise of indicators adjacent to the carriageway makes a lot of sense) as of yet.  My question is this:  is this method something that is now being generally applied to new construction or just with projects undertaken by specific jurisdictions (like ARDOT and NDOT, of course)?   :hmmm:

This style of rumble strip has been pretty standard in Nevada for many years–at least the last 15 years, if not 20 years or more. I'm not sure that it has been used with PCC pavements (possible reason why the NDOT Phase 1 segment has Botts Dots on the outside shoulders), but is very common with asphalt pavements.

Both shoulder and centerline rumble strips are now common on Nevada's two-lane rural highways. Due to safety concerns about increasing crossover head-on collisions about a decade ago, NDOT started installing centerline rumble strips on a lot of state highways, even without repaving. It's a safe bet that almost every segment of two-lane US highway and most major state routes has both types them installed. Examples: US 95 north of Beatty, US 395 near Topaz Lake

Rumble strips also been used on multilane facilities in rural, and sometimes exurban areas. Examples: I-80 east approaching Carlin Tunnels, US 395 ALT in Washoe Valley (has centerline strips only in sections, due to exurban nature and former high traffic counts from the US 395 days). In fact, a newer trend on multilane facilities (not yet universal) is to have the shoulder rumble strips situated on the lane line instead of just outside it. Example: I-80 just outside Carlin
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.


sparker

Good info!  I'll be heading to SLC to visit a cousin this fall, and will definitely keep an eye out for those lane-line strips near Carlin -- probably a good thing considering the presence of the nearby tunnels! 

roadfro

An article on how the Boulder City business/tourism sector is hoping to cope with the soon-to-open I-11/US 93 bypass:

Boulder City residents adapting as new I-11 bypass opens, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 8/4/18

Quote
Boulder City residents are fairly confident the city that built Hoover Dam will not become a ghost town when the Interstate 11 bypass opens this week.

Some businesspeople are nervous that thousands of customers won't find their way to Boulder City streets. Others are happy that the regular weekend traffic jams will soon go away.

An estimated 34,000 vehicles use the existing U.S. Highway 93 route through the city.

"It literally was a 50-50 split"  between people who favored or disliked the new 15-mile stretch of highway, which opens Thursday, Boulder City Chamber of Commerce CEO Jill Lagan said.

The Nevada Department of Transportation says the new road will trim 30 minutes of drive time between Las Vegas and the Arizona border if travelers bypass Boulder City. A group of residents and businesspeople has been working to ensure that travelers will have a reason not to.
<...>

The remainder of the bypass is expected to open Thursday 8/9/18
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.

Kniwt

#203
Early this morning, I definitely did not ride my bicycle past the many Road Closed signs, so I definitely did not see what I am reporting here. :) :)

That said, I was surprised to find an at-grade crossing on the new freeway. It's about 3 miles east of US 95, and there's an access ramp that's apparently for fire vehicles. There are fire-engine yellow diamond signs with flashers that, presumably, are triggered when a vehicle is about to use the crossover. It's an access road that heads south off I-11 and down a curve to Buchanan, where there's a card-entry gate blocking normal access. But it's clear that emergency vehicles heading west/north on I-11 can make a left turn across south/east traffic to use the ramp.

The access is to the Mead substation, "a major electric power interconnection point in the western United States," which is about 0.1 mile south of the freeway.

(Sorry, no pics -- I didn't want to linger and attract attention.)

roadfro

Quote from: Kniwt on August 05, 2018, 05:46:13 PM
Early this morning, I definitely did not ride my bicycle past the many Road Closed signs, so I definitely did not see what I am reporting here. :) :)

That said, I was surprised to find an at-grade crossing on the new freeway. It's about 3 miles east of US 95, and there's an access ramp that's apparently for fire vehicles. There are fire-engine yellow diamond signs with flashers that, presumably, are triggered when a vehicle is about to use the crossover. It's an access road that heads south off I-11 and down a curve to Buchanan, where there's a card-entry gate blocking normal access. But it's clear that emergency vehicles heading west/north on I-11 can make a left turn across south/east traffic to use the ramp.

The access is to the Mead substation, "a major electric power interconnection point in the western United States," which is about 0.1 mile south of the freeway.

(Sorry, no pics -- I didn't want to linger and attract attention.)

Interesting... I think in original plans many years ago, there was a proposal to put an "emergency access only" interchange at the spot you're describing. Sounds like they went with this cheaper alternative.
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.

Sub-Urbanite

I'm somewhat surprised that Buchanan didn't get a full diamond.

Roadwarriors79


GreenLanternCorps

Quote from: roadfro on August 05, 2018, 01:47:48 PM
An article on how the Boulder City business/tourism sector is hoping to cope with the soon-to-open I-11/US 93 bypass:

Boulder City residents adapting as new I-11 bypass opens, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 8/4/18

Quote
Boulder City residents are fairly confident the city that built Hoover Dam will not become a ghost town when the Interstate 11 bypass opens this week.

Some businesspeople are nervous that thousands of customers won't find their way to Boulder City streets. Others are happy that the regular weekend traffic jams will soon go away.

An estimated 34,000 vehicles use the existing U.S. Highway 93 route through the city.

"It literally was a 50-50 split"  between people who favored or disliked the new 15-mile stretch of highway, which opens Thursday, Boulder City Chamber of Commerce CEO Jill Lagan said.

The Nevada Department of Transportation says the new road will trim 30 minutes of drive time between Las Vegas and the Arizona border if travelers bypass Boulder City. A group of residents and businesspeople has been working to ensure that travelers will have a reason not to.
<...>

The remainder of the bypass is expected to open Thursday 8/9/18

Given that Boulder City is the first real town with multiple choices for gas, food and lodging on northbound I-11/US 93 after Kingman, AZ, I don't think they will suffer that much.  I think they get more business from northbound travelers and people visiting the lake/dam than they do from people leaving Las Vegas heading South.

myosh_tino

Quote from: Roadwarriors79 on August 06, 2018, 01:57:12 PM
Saw this link earlier...a preview video of I-11 SB (lanes are striped) and some pics:

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/news-columns/road-warrior/i-11-offers-visual-treat-for-southern-nevada-motorists/

Interesting to see that NDOT is still using Botts Dotts for lane lines.  In fact, it looks like that's all they're using.  Caltrans, before it banished Botts Dotts earlier this year, had always used a combination of paint and Botts Dotts going back at least 10 years.  Some local municipalities still use Botts Dotts to denote lane lines or center lines with or without paint.
Quote from: golden eagle
If I owned a dam and decided to donate it to charity, would I be giving a dam? I'm sure that might be a first because no one really gives a dam.

Plutonic Panda

IMHO, Boulder City is such a cool little city that has some incredible houses and a really cool little downtown which I think is heavily underutilized.

I've always thought it'd be sick if a super long gondola system were built from Boulder City to Hoover Damn that showed the historical construction as you progressed on some sort of futuristic screen tech(LOL) that was projected onto the glass. Almost like virtual reality, but where it's just projected on a screen. I don't know what the name for name for that technology is.

But regardless of that crazy idea, Boulder City's downtown is lovely today and I am always surprised to see there never seems to be many others around at any time. I hope to get my first house in Boulder City soon. Very cool area.

SSR_317

Quote from: Sub-Urbanite on August 06, 2018, 01:14:56 PM
I'm somewhat surprised that Buchanan didn't get a full diamond.
It is my understanding that the city of Boulder City specifically did NOT want an interchange there, but you'd think that the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) would have desired it. As it is, the emergency access ramp at that location can be used by WAPA for deliveries of large equipment by prior arrangement with NDOT.

roadfro

#211
Quote from: myosh_tino on August 06, 2018, 02:20:22 PM
Interesting to see that NDOT is still using Botts Dotts for lane lines.  In fact, it looks like that's all they're using.  Caltrans, before it banished Botts Dotts earlier this year, had always used a combination of paint and Botts Dotts going back at least 10 years.  Some local municipalities still use Botts Dotts to denote lane lines or center lines with or without paint.

Raised pavement markers, without underlying paint, is still standard issue in Clark County. NDOT and all the local agencies use this as their primary lane marking method.

The section of I-15 between Tropicana and the 215 uses RPMs on top of white lane lines. Not sure if this was an experiment or an error. It's still the only place in Nevada I can think of that this is done.
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.

GreenLanternCorps

Opening day...

Wish I was there.  It would be kind of cool to drive on a brand new Interstate...

Roadwarriors79


theroadwayone


GreenLanternCorps

#215
Google Maps now has the Boulder City bypass both marked as a road and signed as I-11.

Apple Maps also has it mapped, at least on my iPad.

roadfro

^ Google Maps doesn't quite have the geometry right at the Exit 2 interchange...
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.

GreenLanternCorps

Quote from: roadfro on August 11, 2018, 12:14:25 PM
^ Google Maps doesn't quite have the geometry right at the Exit 2 interchange...

Yeah, I noticed that, it's odd.

US 89

Quote from: roadfro on August 11, 2018, 12:14:25 PM
^ Google Maps doesn't quite have the geometry right at the Exit 2 interchange...

Not at the US 95 interchange either, it would appear. It shows an extra NB-to-WB ramp which would have to be quite awkward to drive.

skluth

Quote from: US 89 on August 11, 2018, 05:43:35 PM
Quote from: roadfro on August 11, 2018, 12:14:25 PM
^ Google Maps doesn't quite have the geometry right at the Exit 2 interchange...

Not at the US 95 interchange either, it would appear. It shows an extra NB-to-WB ramp which would have to be quite awkward to drive.

:-D That would be one amazing flyover

Roadwarriors79


Sub-Urbanite

One observation — there are still some places where Needles is the control city for US 95 southbound in Nevada. Searchlight's population of less than 600 is... notably small, especially compared to the 50,000 people who live between Bullhead City and Laughlin, and the 5,000 who live in Needles. Anyway, just odd to me that that wound up as the control city for the 95 South exit, with no other "Laughlin / Bullhead City / Needles - Next right" noted.

Also odd to me — I would think that Hoover Dam would be more prominently signed on Exit 2, I.E. "Boulder City - Hoover Dam" on the BGS, not on a next-right brown sign.

TimQuiQui

Quote from: GreenLanternCorps on August 11, 2018, 01:44:59 PM
Quote from: roadfro on August 11, 2018, 12:14:25 PM
^ Google Maps doesn't quite have the geometry right at the Exit 2 interchange...

Yeah, I noticed that, it's odd.

If you compare the map location versus the satelitte imagery of the last three miles or so approaching Hoover Dam, you'll notice the road seems to be a couple hundred feet off mapwise versus its realistic location, which does culminate in the very inaccurate meeting 93N meeting point.

howlincoyote2k1

 :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: for NDOT adding a truck climbing lane on NB I-11 after Hoover Dam. The grades through there must be pretty steep but I'm really glad it's there.

I'll be driving this road southbound on Friday  :biggrin:

barcncpt44

The YouTube channel rockersk08 has covered the new bypass.
https://youtu.be/cGHctcTwuNQ

A bland smile is like a green light at an intersection, it feels good when you get one, but you forget it the moment you're past it. -Doug Coupland



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.