Virgin Trains surveying work to limit I-15 lanes next week

Surveying work related to the planned Virgin Trains USA high-speed rail project will create lane reductions on Interstate 15 next week.

I-15 southbound between Warm Springs Road and 1 mile south of the Union Pacific Railroad crossing in the Ivanpah Valley will see the shoulder and right travel lane shuttered between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. nightly Sunday through July 31, the Nevada Department of Transportation announced Thursday.

The temporary closures are needed for surveying work tied to the Virgin Trains rail project set to link Las Vegas and Victorville, California.

Plans call for the 35-mile Nevada portion of the 170-mile rail line to run mainly on the east side of I-15 from the Nevada-California state line to the Las Vegas station located on Las Vegas Boulevard near Warm Springs Road.

The state Finance Board on Friday could approve $200 million in private activity bonds that would be the final step before Virgin could market the bonds that will be used to finance the project.

Internal Revenue Service guidelines allow Virgin to market the $200 million in bonds from Nevada as well as $600 million in bonds approved by California for up to four times that amount, for a total of $3.2 billion to go toward financing the project.

If all bonds are issued by Sept. 30, Virgin hopes to break ground on the project by the end of the year, with trains running by the end of 2023.

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