The plan to revamp Henderson Spaghetti Bowl is changing again. Here’s why

The way the Henderson Interchange will be revamped has changed after bids for the project came in much higher than expected.

The planned design-build approach for the Henderson Spaghetti Bowl project has been canceled, and the interchange will now be built in phases, Nevada Department of Transportation Director Tracy Larkin Thomason said during Monday’s NDOT Board of Directors meeting.

“Bids just came in considerably higher than we were expecting, and we will continue to work on the utility relocations, but we are working with the city of Henderson on a path forward,” Thomason said. “We’re going to build it out in a multi-phased project.”

Reached for comment on what the prices were submitted, NDOT spokeswoman Kelsey McFarland said bid amounts were confidential because a notice of intent to award the contract was not issued.

“Since no such notice was issued for this project, we are unable to share the bid amounts,” McFarland said in an email. “The bids also contain confidential proprietary information.”

The project was once projected to cost between $350 million and $400 million, but McFarland told the Review-Journal in July that the cost had grown to between $495 million and $520 million, .

With the construction plans changing, the project’s timeline — it’s tentatively scheduled to begin this fall and wrap up in 2028 — could also be altered.

“With the shift away from the design-build approach, NDOT is working with the City of Henderson on the project’s schedule and scope,” McFarland said. “At this time, we do not have a new timeline for the project. NDOT will construct the project using a phased approach with design work potentially starting before the end of the year.”

A design-build project calls for one contractor overseeing all work on a project, from planning and designing to construction itself. Several different firms can be part of a design-build project, all working as one team.

The project will update the 18-year-old interchange to keep up with increased traffic demand. An estimated 190,000 vehicles travel through the interchange daily, with that number expected to jump to 289,000 by 2040, a 2020 NDOT traffic study determined.

The project’s scope is between Galleria and Horizon drives on U.S. Highway 95 and from Valle Verde Drive on the 215 Beltway to Van Wagenen Street on Lake Mead Parkway.

The current interchange features 27 bridges, five of which are planned to be demolished as part of the project. Eleven new bridges are slated to be built, bringing the total number of bridges to 33 once the project is completed.

The project’s planned crossover-style configuration will see east-west highway directions crossing over each other.

Access to Gibson Road from where the Beltway and U.S. 95 meet will be reconnected. That access was eliminated in 2019 during a restriping project.

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