Reduced HOV lane hours to begin this week on I-15, US 95
Solo drivers will have significantly more access to the valley’s carpool lanes starting Tuesday — at no risk of getting a ticket.
The new “high occupancy vehicle” lane hours — the periods when vehicles must have at least two passengers — are between 6 and 8 a.m. and between 4 and 6 p.m. on weekdays. The lanes will be open to all drivers the rest of each weekday and all weekend.
This change was directed by the Nevada Department of Transportation’s board of directors earlier this month. The previous HOV lane hours on Interstate 15, U.S. Highway 95 and Summerlin Parkway were between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m., seven days a week, leaving the lanes off-limits to the vast majority of drivers nearly all the time.
“To implement the new hours, NDOT crews will begin to change signage on U.S. 95 starting at 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday,” department spokesman Justin Hopkins said in an email. “Signage on I-15 will be replaced over the following two mornings — Wednesday and Thursday.”
Updating the signs on I-15 will require intermittent lane restrictions and impacts to medians or shoulders.
“It will take multiple overnight shifts to change over 50 static signs and potentially several days to reprogram Active Traffic Management signs to reflect the new hours,” Hopkins noted. “The new HOV hours of operation should be observed, even if the nearest sign still displays the previous regulations.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.