U.S. 95 Interchange reopens Thursday

Some U.S. Highway 95 commuters who have had to find detours to get to and from downtown Las Vegas over the past few months will be rewarded with a more direct path Thursday afternoon.

That’s when a rebuilt U.S. 95 interchange at Rancho Drive is expected to reopen after a months-long shutdown.

Nevada Department of Transportation officials say the reopening is the most obvious sign to date that the $500 million-plus widening of U.S. 95 between downtown and Rainbow Boulevard is moving toward a conclusion before year’s end.

“There’s quite a number of construction activities that will continue. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” Bob Mc-Kenzie, a highway department spokesman, said this week.

The Rancho closure, which began in January, has forced many downtown commuters from the northwestern Las Vegas Valley to find alternate freeway exits to get to work or play.

Originally, engineers hoped to have the $63 million renovation completed by the end of March, but finishing work extended that deadline until now.

It’s hoped a realignment of exit ramps will minimize or eliminate ramp backups that at times have extended onto the freeway, and reduce weaving and conflicts between traffic entering or exiting the highway and traffic driving straight through on U.S. 95 and Rancho.

“It’s a big improvement,” McKenzie said. “It’ll be a much better commute for the people who have to work in that area.”

The Rancho ramps carried around 9,000 cars and trucks each day in 2005, according to state statistics.

The brunt of remaining U.S. 95 work is west of Rancho, where there are various traffic shifts and overnight lane closures in effect. Ongoing work will finish widening U.S. 95 through the western valley to 10 lanes, five each way. The highway is six lanes wide.

That stretch of U.S. 95 is among the valley’s busiest highways, carrying more than 200,000 cars and trucks each day in 2005. Only Interstate 15 through the resort corridor is busier.

Despite the Rancho reopening, drivers will still have roadblocks to contend with.

“There will be some inconveniences (for commuters) between now and November,” McKenzie said.

At Jones, the onramp to northbound U.S. 95 is closed until mid-summer. Also, the northbound U.S. 95 offramp at Decatur Boulevard is combined with the Valley View Boulevard exit through the end of this month.

Drivers wishing to access Decatur from northbound U.S. 95 must exit at Valley View and follow posted detours. And northbound U.S. 95 exits at Rainbow and Summerlin Parkway are shifted to allow work.