I-15 to be shut down again near Strip in ‘Pave-A-Thon’ operation

Supply chain issues kept crews from carrying out all of the planned repaving operations during the second-consecutive full-weekend directional closure of Interstate 15. That means another shutdown will be needed for the busy freeway.

Directional closures of I-15 between Warm Springs and Flamingo roads occurred on consecutive weekends, snarling traffic during those spans. The northbound lanes first shut down two weekends ago and the southbound lanes were closed this past weekend.

Despite the multiday closures, crews weren’t able to finish the repaving work associated with the so-called Pave-A-Thon because of supply chain issues regarding material used for paving, NDOT spokeswoman Kelsey McFarland announced Monday.

“With a limited number of laboratories capable of producing the necessary rubberized overlay material, a shutdown at one of these facilities prevented NDOT from completing all the initially planned paving work,” she said in an email.

The remaining paving will take place at a later date, but NDOT will look to focus on night work to minimize traffic impacts, McFarland said.

Although the paving operations couldn’t be fully completed, the scheduled closure was still needed to accommodate crane work and other tasks, tied to the $305 million I-15-Tropicana project, that cannot occur over active traffic, McFarland noted.

Aside from the paving work completed between Warm Springs and the 215 during the two weekends of closures, NDOT crews also installed new dynamic messaging boards and added girders to the Tropicana Avenue bridge.

The high occupancy vehicle lane and farthest left general purpose lanes on I-15 northbound, between Hacienda and Tropicana avenues, reopened, which has improved traffic flow.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.