Phase 1 of Centennial Bowl project set to end with July 4 flyover bridge opening

Construction is expected to wrap up by July 4 on the current phase of the Centennial Bowl project in northwest Las Vegas, and state officials on have started looking ahead to two additional jobs aimed at completing Nevada’s second-busiest freeway interchange as soon as 2022.

The Nevada Department of Transportation’s board of directors on Monday approved a $1.5 million boost to an existing engineering contract with HDR to complete design checks for three additional ramps connecting the 215 Beltway and U.S. Highway 95.

Including previous engineering work completed on the Centennial Bowl, the contract with HDR now stands at more than $5.3 million, according to a department report.

NDOT is currently designing the next phase of the Centennial Bowl, with construction expected to start by spring 2018.

The $55 million project calls for construction of a flyover ramp carrying vehicles from northbound U.S. 95 to the westbound Beltway, a ramp connecting southbound U.S. 95 to the eastbound Beltway and a third ramp linking the westbound Beltway to northbound U.S. 95, spokesman Tony Illia said.

Those three ramps are expected to be completed by 2020.

Shortly afterward, work is expected to start on the final phase, expected to take another two years to complete, Illia said.

That last chunk, estimated at $110 million, calls for an upgrade of the 215 Beltway to a divided, six-lane freeway through the Centennial Bowl interchange.

Plans also call for construction of ramps connecting the eastbound Beltway to northbound U.S. 95 and the Beltway in both directions to southbound U.S. 95, Illia said. Additionally, crews will build frontage roads and realign Oso Blanca Road.

The entire project would have taken another 10 to 20 years to complete if Clark County voters in November had rejected Question 5, which will extend the fuel revenue index tax that took effect in 2013, Illia said. About $3 billion would be generated by the tax over the next decade to help pay for nearly 200 transportation projects.

In the near term, NDOT officials are expected to complete the $47 million current phase of the Centennial Bowl on July 4 with the opening of a 60-foot-tall, 2,500-foot-long flyover bridge linking the westbound Beltway to southbound U.S. 95.

Construction of the Centennial Bowl began in summer 2015, and the initial phase was completed last year with the opening of a ramp linking northbound U.S. 95 to the eastbound Beltway.

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.