Interstate 11 alignment, though Vegas and points north

[Plutonic Panda]

TBH, if you're going from Reno to points southeast, Carson is out of the way. Even if you spend countless billions of dollars building a tunnel system between the Carson Valley and Hawthorne, 80-439-50-95A would at worst be a wash in terms of distance and travel time. And you'd need a crapton of earthmoving along NV SR 208, because you're not squeezing anything else through the canyon 208 uses between Smith and Mason Valleys.

Part of the impetus for NV 439 was to make a more direct route between Reno and Vegas that bypasses Fernley and Fallon. And indeed, it chops 10 miles and 10 or so minutes off of the trip. It's only about 15 miles longer than the straight-line distance between Reno and Hawthorne and isn't particularly mountainous. If it becomes necessary, I could see them formalizing the unofficial Yerington bypass, but what exists now works. US 50 is 4-lane expressway between I-580 and US 95A, with plans to make it a continuous 4 lanes to Fallon. That doesn't need a freeway bypass to the south.

I maintain that a far more worthy endeavor would be 4-laning the rest of US 395 between Lee Vining and Gardnerville. That actually has nearly the traffic counts to warrant it.

But like I said it also is more convenient for traffic heading to the Carson-Tahoe area as an added benefit so it's a win win on all fronts. Yes it'd be expensive but money is not an issue in this country. We can just up and decide to send $40 billion to Ukraine on a whim. We should be able to do same with road projects on our land.

[roadfro]

I assume you mean upgrading along the existing US-93 alignment thru Boulder City, right? That wasn't do-able, at least not without buying and demolishing a significant number of properties (and inciting a lot of political blow-back). The new Boulder City bypass does follow a pretty loopy path but it was arguably the most practical to build.

One of the proposed through-town alignments could have been easily workable with fairly minimal ROW purchase, and construction costs would've been less. The freeway would've been close to homes though, and I think tbat's where a lot of the backlash occurred. I recall business owners greatly preferred a through-town routing.

[Sub-Urbanite]

I assume you mean upgrading along the existing US-93 alignment thru Boulder City, right? That wasn't do-able, at least not without buying and demolishing a significant number of properties (and inciting a lot of political blow-back). The new Boulder City bypass does follow a pretty loopy path but it was arguably the most practical to build.

One of the proposed through-town alignments could have been easily workable with fairly minimal ROW purchase, and construction costs would've been less. The freeway would've been close to homes though, and I think tbat's where a lot of the backlash occurred. I recall business owners greatly preferred a through-town routing.

Boulder City has always had a disproportionate amount of political power, mainly thanks to an entrenched internal power structure highly centralized among certain church members. They usually get what they want, and they wanted an around-town bypass with no exit on the east end of town.

[SeriesE]

I assume you mean upgrading along the existing US-93 alignment thru Boulder City, right? That wasn't do-able, at least not without buying and demolishing a significant number of properties (and inciting a lot of political blow-back). The new Boulder City bypass does follow a pretty loopy path but it was arguably the most practical to build.

One of the proposed through-town alignments could have been easily workable with fairly minimal ROW purchase, and construction costs would've been less. The freeway would've been close to homes though, and I think tbat's where a lot of the backlash occurred. I recall business owners greatly preferred a through-town routing.

EDIT: I found the alignments in the EIS https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/EIS-0490-Adopted-Volume1.pdf

[The Ghostbuster]

When/if US 93 is eventually decommissioned in Arizona, as well as eventually truncated south of Exit 64 on Interstate 15, does anyone think Business 93 in Boulder City will eventually become Business 11?

[roadfro]

Do they have a date on when they will renumber the rest of Interstate 515, and co-designate the rest of US 95 to NV 157 as Interstate 11? Or will we have to wait a few years for it to happen?

Likely later this year. Enjoy the I-11 extension now, because it's probably the last one we'll see in Nevada for a loooooooong time (if ever). On which note, I was on US 95 south of Hawthorne on Saturday. There were periods when I couldn't even see another car on the road. Hard to imagine that ever becoming a freeway.

But, but, but, if you build it they will come for Tonopah, Luning, Mina and Coaldale!

Can't wait to see how such road can "induce demand" in the middle of nowhere

.

I'm planning on buying into a Buc-ee's franchise at the Coaldale exit.

How much does the 20 acres of land necessary for a Buc-ee's cost in Coaldale?  Also, does it have enough of a nearby population to adequately staff just the bathroom maintenance requirements of an Buc-ee's alone?

Irrelevant, people will come once I-11 and Buc-ee's are constructed.

Land in Coaldale will be dirt cheap, especially given there is nothing in Coaldale aside from a few long-abandoned buildings. But good luck finding staffing, given the nearest population center is Tonopah.

But also, Buc-ee's is an interesting choice given they don't seem to operate outside the south and only a handful of locations are outside of Texas...

Plus, you'd have a bit of competition. When I drove between Reno and Vegas in early January, I saw a new truck stop under construction (might've been a Love's) just north of Tonopah (close enough to be considered in town, but it's technically in Esmeralda County not Nye County). Based on the progress I could see just driving by, I gotta imagine that the truck stop is open by now.

[Max Rockatansky]

Worth noting, most posts I do regarding Buc-ee's are dripping with sarcasm given the chain seems to have acolytes in certain parts of the road community.  I'm sure several of you got the joke given it's one that has become a meme largely off forum. 

The irony is that Coaldale would probably be a decent place for a truck stop already given it is the junction of US 6 and US 95.  Trouble is that Coaldale is too far from Tonopah to really draw anyone to work there (which probably explains why it's a ghost town). 

[Max Rockatansky]

Cross posting the blog I did on I-11 after a recent drive I did:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2023/06/interstate-11-and-boulder-city-bypass.html?m=1

[kdk]

Do they have a date on when they will renumber the rest of Interstate 515, and co-designate the rest of US 95 to NV 157 as Interstate 11? Or will we have to wait a few years for it to happen?

Likely later this year. Enjoy the I-11 extension now, because it's probably the last one we'll see in Nevada for a loooooooong time (if ever). On which note, I was on US 95 south of Hawthorne on Saturday. There were periods when I couldn't even see another car on the road. Hard to imagine that ever becoming a freeway.

But, but, but, if you build it they will come for Tonopah, Luning, Mina and Coaldale!

Can't wait to see how such road can "induce demand" in the middle of nowhere

.

I'm planning on buying into a Buc-ee's franchise at the Coaldale exit.

How much does the 20 acres of land necessary for a Buc-ee's cost in Coaldale?  Also, does it have enough of a nearby population to adequately staff just the bathroom maintenance requirements of an Buc-ee's alone?

Irrelevant, people will come once I-11 and Buc-ee's are constructed.

Plus, you'd have a bit of competition. When I drove between Reno and Vegas in early January, I saw a new truck stop under construction (might've been a Love's) just north of Tonopah (close enough to be considered in town, but it's technically in Esmeralda County not Nye County). Based on the progress I could see just driving by, I gotta imagine that the truck stop is open by now.

Surprisingly still not open as of this week, although it looks like now it could be open within 30 days, all that seems to be done on the outside would be the actual paving of the parking lots.  It's much needed as I have learned to avoid needing gas in Tonopah as the existing gas stations tend to have a wait time at each pump and the parking lots tend to fill up as well, as was the case last week.
On a related note, the Goldfield Truck Stop in Goldfield still looks to be an active construction site but little progress has been made in the past 8 months since I had last driven by.

[Mark68]

Do they have a date on when they will renumber the rest of Interstate 515, and co-designate the rest of US 95 to NV 157 as Interstate 11? Or will we have to wait a few years for it to happen?

Likely later this year. Enjoy the I-11 extension now, because it's probably the last one we'll see in Nevada for a loooooooong time (if ever). On which note, I was on US 95 south of Hawthorne on Saturday. There were periods when I couldn't even see another car on the road. Hard to imagine that ever becoming a freeway.

But, but, but, if you build it they will come for Tonopah, Luning, Mina and Coaldale!

Can't wait to see how such road can "induce demand" in the middle of nowhere

.

I'm planning on buying into a Buc-ee's franchise at the Coaldale exit.

How much does the 20 acres of land necessary for a Buc-ee's cost in Coaldale?  Also, does it have enough of a nearby population to adequately staff just the bathroom maintenance requirements of an Buc-ee's alone?

Irrelevant, people will come once I-11 and Buc-ee's are constructed.

Plus, you'd have a bit of competition. When I drove between Reno and Vegas in early January, I saw a new truck stop under construction (might've been a Love's) just north of Tonopah (close enough to be considered in town, but it's technically in Esmeralda County not Nye County). Based on the progress I could see just driving by, I gotta imagine that the truck stop is open by now.

Surprisingly still not open as of this week, although it looks like now it could be open within 30 days, all that seems to be done on the outside would be the actual paving of the parking lots.  It's much needed as I have learned to avoid needing gas in Tonopah as the existing gas stations tend to have a wait time at each pump and the parking lots tend to fill up as well, as was the case last week.
On a related note, the Goldfield Truck Stop in Goldfield still looks to be an active construction site but little progress has been made in the past 8 months since I had last driven by.

Just made the Reno-Vegas and back drive earlier this month. The Love's is just about ready. They'll have to move the sign on NB 95 that says how far to next gas, though.

While there may not be enough traffic to build I-11 out there, I could easily see building it as far as the Mercury exit, and I don't see it being much of an issue (except for the bypass around Indian Springs/Cactus Springs), but NDOT REALLY needs more passing lanes north of Tonopah.

[The Ghostbuster]

Does anyone know why the exit numbers on US 95 (future Interstate 11) make the jump from Exit 85 at W. Craig Rd. to Exit 90A (NV 599/Business 95) and 90B (W. Ann Rd.), even though 85 and 90A are only about half of a mile apart? That doesn't make sense to me. Hopefully, this exit number jump will be corrected when this portion becomes part of Interstate 11 and starts using Interstate 11's mileage for exit numbers.

[Scott5114]

I don't know for sure, but Business 95 is the old route of 95, so my guess is the discontinuity has something to do with a discrepancy between the old and current alignments' lengths.

[Quillz]

So what is the present northern terminus of I-11? How serious is a northern extension to Reno?

[US 89]

So what is the present northern terminus of I-11? How serious is a northern extension to Reno?

Present northern terminus is the interchange with I-515 and I-215 in Henderson. Seems only a matter of a couple years before it gets extended over I-515 and the US 95 freeway through Las Vegas.

The extension to Reno is actually written into federal law somewhere, but I will be shocked if it happens in my lifetime.

[Scott5114]

So what is the present northern terminus of I-11? How serious is a northern extension to Reno?

Present northern terminus is the interchange with I-515 and I-215 in Henderson. Seems only a matter of a couple years before it gets extended over I-515 and the US 95 freeway through Las Vegas.

Probably far sooner than that–the extension has already been approved by AASHTO, so it's basically "whenever NDOT feels like printing a bunch of I-11 shields up".

[ilpt4u]

Probably far sooner than that–the extension has already been approved by AASHTO, so it's basically "whenever NDOT feels like printing a bunch of I-11 shields up".

AASHTO approved I-265 over the East End Bridge in Louisville years ago, and it is not signed. FHWA has a list of "can't sign it unless/until..."  that is yet to be completed - the big points are setting the mileage "zero"  point to the I-65/I-265 interchange in KY, and unified mileage & exit numbers between KY & IN, and since those haven't happened, not officially I-265 yet

[roadfro]

Does anyone know why the exit numbers on US 95 (future Interstate 11) make the jump from Exit 85 at W. Craig Rd. to Exit 90A (NV 599/Business 95) and 90B (W. Ann Rd.), even though 85 and 90A are only about half of a mile apart? That doesn't make sense to me. Hopefully, this exit number jump will be corrected when this portion becomes part of Interstate 11 and starts using Interstate 11's mileage for exit numbers.

I don't know for sure, but Business 95 is the old route of 95, so my guess is the discontinuity has something to do with a discrepancy between the old and current alignments' lengths.

Note that the original routing of US 95 followed Boulder Hwy (SR 582) from Henderson into downtown Las Vegas, cutting over to Bonanza Rd (SR 579) and Rancho Dr (US 95 Bus/SR 599) to leave town to the northwest. This is a much straighter alignment than current US 95 freeway. Mileposting related to the old routing would result in the US 95 exit number being much lower than 90 at the northern Rancho Dr interchange.

I believe it's most likely a measurement error that has been in place for a long while and never corrected–perhaps related to not knowing a definite final routing for what would eventually become the US 95 freeway through Las Vegas. Note that the current alignment was first constructed as a freeway beginning in the 1960s from downtown and heading west toward the Rainbow Curve by the late 1970s, and then northward to Rancho Dr was added as an expressway in the early 1980s (upgraded to freeway in the late 1980s) and Rancho Dr was not made into an interchange and the US 95 a freeway north from there until early 1990s. What is now I-515 expanded southeastward towards Henderson piecemeal during the 1980s and reaching Boulder Hwy at Railroad Pass circa 1994. So two different study processes led to the current alignment. So it's possible that planners picked an approximate milepoint to start from that seemed like it might work or be close.

Interestingly, if you measure distance along US 95 from the state line south of the Laughlin turnoff (and following the alignment that existed prior to I-11) to a point just north of the Rancho part of the Rancho/Ann interchange, you get about 90.2 miles–so the exit 90 designation is the correct mileage and all other exit numbers on US 95 south of there are off. If you measure the distance along the old US 95 routing via Boulder Hwy and Rancho Rd, you'll get closer to 86 miles–which is what the Rancho/Ann exit number would be if going by the mileposts that the freeway is currently using.

Also, a fun fact is that the Snow Mountain interchange has been an interchange for a long while, longer than all of the interchanges between there and the current exit 90 (one of NDOT's first forays into interchange aesthetics, actually). Snow Mountain was originally numbered as exit 95; however, as new interchanges cropped up north of exit 90 using exit numbers reflecting true mileage, Snow Mountain was renumbered as exit 99.

Does anyone know why the exit numbers on US 95 (future Interstate 11) make the jump from Exit 85 at W. Craig Rd. to Exit 90A (NV 599/Business 95) and 90B (W. Ann Rd.), even though 85 and 90A are only about half of a mile apart? That doesn't make sense to me. Hopefully, this exit number jump will be corrected when this portion becomes part of Interstate 11 and starts using Interstate 11's mileage for exit numbers.

Present northern terminus is the interchange with I-515 and I-215 in Henderson. Seems only a matter of a couple years before it gets extended over I-515 and the US 95 freeway through Las Vegas.

Probably far sooner than that–the extension has already been approved by AASHTO, so it's basically "whenever NDOT feels like printing a bunch of I-11 shields up".

Likely, US 95 exit numbers will be changed when NDOT decides to post the freeway as I-11.

The portion of I-515 south of the I-215/SR 564 interchange that was converted from I-515 to I-11 a few years ago, had its exit numbers changed simultaneously to reflect I-11 mileage instead US 95 mileage–the conversion corresponded with a big freeway signing contract to replace virtually all the BGSs and other signs (many of which may have been original to the circa 1994 construction of that segment of freeway).

Even with that, I don't know how fast NDOT will carry out the signage change despite the approval of I-11 designation from AASHTO. (Keep in mind that I-515 had an AASHTO approval in 1976 as the freeway was being planned, but did not put up I-515 shields until the mid-1990s, after the final segment of the spur was completed.) My hunch is that NDOT will start by converting the remainder of I-515 first, but may hold off on converting the I-15 to SR 157 segment for a little while.

[lstone19]

So what is the present northern terminus of I-11? How serious is a northern extension to Reno?

Present northern terminus is the interchange with I-515 and I-215 in Henderson. Seems only a matter of a couple years before it gets extended over I-515 and the US 95 freeway through Las Vegas.

The extension to Reno is actually written into federal law somewhere, but I will be shocked if it happens in my lifetime.

With three more Reno - Santa Barbara round-trips behind me covering all three routes (395-14-5-126-101, 80-5-41-46-101, and 80-680-101), I am very unconvinced that there is any need for a full interstate-standard limited access highway between Reno and Las Vegas. Improvements to make it four-lane divided with bypasses around the towns and no traffic lights (like 101 between Gilroy and Santa Barbara and 395/14 is getting close to between Lee Vining and Lancaster) gets you 95+% of what a full freeway gets you at much less cost. Of those three ways to Santa Barbara I listed, the one with the most freeway mileage - 80-5-41-46-101 - is my least favorite. I'd rather see any federal funds that could be used for an interstate between Reno and Las Vegas instead used to widen I-5 between I-580 and Wheeler Ridge.

[Max Rockatansky]

When available the highway you'll want to incorporate into a Santa Barbara trip is 33 to 150.

[lstone19]

When available the highway you'll want to incorporate into a Santa Barbara trip is 33 to 150.

Coming up 5 last night, I did think about that (and was on 33 from 41 to Avenal as that is how Google Maps always tells me to go). But we already started two hours later than planned and was looking at a near midnight arrival in Reno.

[pderocco]

When available the highway you'll want to incorporate into a Santa Barbara trip is 33 to 150.

Might as well take 4 across the Sierra Nevada, too, if you have that kind of time on your hands.

[Max Rockatansky]

When available the highway you'll want to incorporate into a Santa Barbara trip is 33 to 150.

Might as well take 4 across the Sierra Nevada, too, if you have that kind of time on your hands.

The Maricopa Highway segment of CA 33 is a quality 45-60 MPH mountain road (sadly closed right now in Wheeler Gorge).  It's not quite the time sink that CA 4 becomes over Pacific Grade Summit/Ebbetts Pass with the one lane/low gear segments. 

[cl94]

Addressing a bunch of things...

Re: I-11 north of the current approved end: I'd be shocked if it happens within my lifetime. Very little along that stretch of 95 is even in NDOT's 2050 plan. Though there are a couple of places were extra passing lanes would be nice, a full freeway is overkill and NDOT knows it. This isn't an agency that overbuilds frequently. There are other places in the state that need the money far more and, unless the feds are funding 100% of construction, I bet NDOT would agree.

395 in CA is the example of what an ideal 95 corridor would look like. Which...is pretty close to what it already is. Maybe build better bypasses of a couple of time sinks, but the towns along 95 survive on business generated by through traffic, so I expect a Tonopah bypass, for example, to get a lot of pushback. The majority of 395/14 south of Bridgeport is 4 lanes, and the parts that aren't south of Lee Vining have it coming in the relatively near future.

Re: mountain crossings: 4 gets the attention, but 108 is as crazy with curves/grades despite having a centerline. I might argue 108 is a better driving road, 4 just has the "need to move over for 2 cars to pass" factor. You can go faster on 108, which arguably makes it more dangerous given it has most of the same hazards minus the lack of 2 full lanes.

[Personal opinion emphasized]

[US 89]

I don't disagree that a potential Tonopah bypass would meet some pushback, but this I think is one of the rare cases where it wouldn't actually hurt. That part of Nevada is so sparse and isolated that Tonopah will always be a gas and food stop for people on 95. I can't imagine there are many people spending money in Tonopah today who would not continue to do so if a bypass existed. Not to mention you'll still have some small amount of through traffic on US 6 that presumably will still have to drive through town.

[The Ghostbuster]

Beyond the NV 157 interchange, I could see the Interstate 11 designation going at least as far as NV 156 (with upgrades to freeway standards), or possibly even as far as NV 160 (again with freeway upgrades). Beyond there, I don't see any further need to upgrade the US 95 corridor into Interstate 11, and I would not be shocked if 11 never makes it past NV 157. Due to the difficult terrain and sparsely populated areas, I don't see Interstate 11 ever making it to Interstate 80.