Interstate 15 work brings changes

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Change is coming.

No, I’m not talking about our new president’s campaign slogan. I’m referring to the ongoing $240 million Interstate 15 north widening project.

For the 170,000 motorists who traverse the 51/2 miles of Interstate 15 north of the Spaghetti Bowl to Craig Road, the phrase “change is coming” might be nothing new. After all, something seems to change along that stretch of freeway on a daily basis.

When done, the project will widen I-15 from six to 10 lanes from the Spaghetti Bowl to Lake Mead Boulevard, and from four and five lanes to eight lanes from Lake Mead to Craig Road. Interchanges also will be reconstructed at D Street, Lake Mead, Cheyenne Avenue and Craig.

There’s about a year left before the project is supposed to be complete, and there is a ton of work still to be done.

The third round of major changes is already under way.

Since July, northbound and southbound traffic has been relegated to two lanes each on the southbound side of the interstate.

That has changed. Both northbound and southbound traffic have been switched over to the northbound lanes between Cheyenne Avenue and Lake Mead Boulevard.

The good news is most of this stretch of roadway is freshly paved.

Of course, this also means a new round of interchange closures.

The I-15 southbound offramp to Lake Mead is closed through the summer. And Lake Mead under I-15 will be reduced to one lane in each direction beginning Monday through November.

The I-15 northbound Cheyenne offramp and onramp will be closed beginning today. The offramp will be closed through mid-May, and the onramp will be closed through July.

The I-15 southbound offramp to Cheyenne will remain closed.

The D Street/Washington Avenue onramp to I-15 southbound will close beginning April 6 through January 2010. The Washington Avenue/D Street offramp from I-15 northbound will remain closed through the summer.

And here’s more good news.

Up on Craig Road, the construction of the bridge over the Union Pacific railroad tracks, just west of I-15, is complete.

“Functionally the bridge is open,” said Bob McKenzie, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Transportation.

The $34 million project still has some paving and striping yet to be done. The work should be finished in May.

The new bridge should help ease traffic on Craig immensely, McKenzie said. Craig traffic not only had to stop every time trains passed by (which is multiple times a day), but also slowed when buses performed their mandatory stops in front of all train tracks.

In the meantime, the whole I-15 north widening project could come to a screeching halt, depending on how a federal judge rules on an injunction filed by those against the closure of F Street.

Judge Lloyd George will decide whether to allow the injunction and stop the interstate widening until the case can be heard.

West Las Vegas residents, who believe the city is trying to segregate the historically black community from the downtown area by closing F Street, have filed a lawsuit to reopen the roadway. The lawsuit contends the state and city did not perform due diligence during the public comment period of the project. State officials have said they met all the requirements regarding public meetings and comment periods.

The lead attorney for the West Las Vegas residents, Matthew Callister, told me he has asked for oral arguments to be heard on the injunction, but has not been notified by the court whether that will happen.

For now, Callister is waiting for the court to rule on the injunction.

Also, residents against the F Street closure are planning a second protest march on April 18.

So maybe “change is coming” might be inaccurate for this I-15 north widening project. It’s more like “change is happening.”

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