US 95 Casino Center offramp to close for nearly 3 months
Motorists exiting U.S. Highway 95 into downtown Las Vegas will have one less option over the summer.
The U.S. 95 southbound Casino Center offramp will be closed to traffic from midnight Monday through 5 a.m. Sept. 1., the Nevada Department of Transportation announced Tuesday.
The nearly 3-month temporary closure is needed as part of the $38.8 million U.S. 95 viaduct rehabilitation project from Interstate 15 to Eastern Avenue. The entire project is set to be completed by mid-2022.
“The project will repair and overlay the entire 1.2 million square foot viaduct deck surface between the Union Pacific Railroad and 21st Street, as well as reconstruct the Casino Center Boulevard off-ramp hinge while seismically retrofitting selected viaduct columns,” NDOT spokesman Tony Illia said in a statement.
A new southbound auxiliary lane also will be added between I-15 and Eastern via lane restriping and the Eastern southbound offramp will be widened to two lanes.
Other improvements entail reconstructing the aging Eastern and Desert Inn Road bridges, to address fatigue cracks in the structural steel box girders.
Work will occur Monday through Saturday throughout the 370-working-day project. The stretch of highway averages 183,000 vehicles daily, pre-pandemic, with heavy trucks accounting for 1.2 percent of total traffic.
The project is intended to extend the near-term service life of the viaduct — a long bridge-like structure carrying an elevated roadway — that some portions were built almost 60 years ago.
“Plans are underway for replacing the viaduct as part of the future Downtown Access Project, which is currently in the early environmental planning stages,” Illia said.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.
