Navigate new MLK onramps at Spaghetti Bowl in Las Vegas — VIDEO
A trio of Martin Luther King Boulevard onramps to Interstate 15 and U.S. Highway 95 opened to traffic Sunday along with the U.S. 95 southbound to I-15 northbound ramp near downtown Las Vegas.
With any new roadways, especially ones associated with freeways, getting used to the new traffic configuration can be confusing. This was seen last month in the first weeks of the new Interstate 515 southbound off ramp to the 215 Beltway westbound in Henderson.
The three Martin Luther King Boulevard onramps — to I-15 northbound, to I-15 southbound and to U.S. 95 southbound — are all accessed at the same point near the Ashley Furniture store.
Motorists no longer enter I-15 from Martin Luther King Boulevard via the former onramp loop, which was located across the street from Ashley Furniture.
“The Martin Luther King Boulevard ramps improvements include, among other things, eliminating a loop ramp that caused confusion and slowed traffic,” said Tony Illia, Nevada Department of Transportation spokesperson in a release.
Once in the main entrance to the trio of the ramps, motorists will meet the first fork in the road, with the right taking them to either I-15 northbound or southbound. Once motorists keep right at the initial fork, another fork will meet them shortly after, where keeping right leads them to I-15 southbound and the left side leads them to I-15 northbound.
If drivers choose to go left at the initial fork in the onramp feeder road, they’ll be lead to U.S. 95 southbound.
“Martin Luther King Boulevard’s major overhaul is aimed at creating a feeder-like roadway paralleling I-15 for improved performance and accessibility,” Illia said.
The work is part of Project Neon, a nearly $1 billion, 4-mile-long widening of I-15 from the Spaghetti Bowl to Sahara Avenue. The project is 92 percent complete and slated to finish in July.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.
