$160M widening project on 215 kicks off in Henderson, will take 3 years to finish
Work will soon begin on a $160 million project to widen about 3 miles of the 215 Beltway in Henderson.
Local, state and federal dignitaries were on hand Wednesday for a groundbreaking ceremony for the project that also will make changes to Green Valley Parkway over the highway over the next three years.
Plans call for expanding the freeway by two lanes in each direction between Pecos Road and Stephanie Street. That will increase capacity on the busy highway, transforming the 215 from a freeway with three lanes and an auxiliary lane in each direction to one with five lanes and an auxiliary lane in each direction.
On-ramps and off-ramps between Pecos and Stephanie will be upgraded, adding additional turn lanes at Pecos, Green Valley Parkway, Valle Verde and Stephanie.
The project will be designed to help eliminate daily choke points along the beltway, especially during the morning and evening rush hours.
Key investment
Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero called the project a key investment in the city’s future. Henderson saw its population increase by 25 percent between 2010 and 2020, with 60,000 people moving to the area over that 10-year span.
“This section currently experiences congestion due to the rapid population growth of the entire region, which has increased current traffic volume to exceed the roadway’s capacity,” Romero said. “This project will directly address those transportation challenges now and for the future.”
The project is being funded by Clark County’s Master Transportation Improvement Fund and is a collaboration with Henderson, the county and the Nevada Department of Transportation. The project’s bid came in at $145 million, with an additional $15 million in costs tied to contingencies and labor, bringing the total price of the project to $160 million. Las Vegas Paving is the project contractor.
In the coming weeks, crews will begin adding barrier rails on 215 where the widening will take place.
Work will mainly occur behind the barrier walls outside of the freeway’s travel lanes, minimizing travel impacts, according to Henderson city engineer Steven Conner. Some overnight work will require lanes along the 215 stretch to be reduced to two lanes in each direction, generally between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
“The first stage of widening the road is to dig out the slopes that you see on the side of the road and put in retaining walls,” Conner said. “So, the first order of work that you’ll see is the crew coming through and putting a lot of retaining walls in and underground utilities.”
The widening project marks the latest in a number of expansion projects on the 215. In recent years the 215 has been widened between Pecos and Windmill Avenue, and between Interstate 15 in the south valley to Charleston Boulevard in Summerlin.
Green Valley Parkway
The project includes a pair of upgrades to Green Valley Parkway near the 215.
The intersection of Green Valley Parkway and 215 will be rebuilt to be a diverging diamond interchange. The nonstandard intersection features weaving traffic lanes, allowing vehicles to turn left onto freeway on-ramps without stopping or affecting traffic.
Henderson has one more diverging diamond interchange at the intersection of Horizon Drive and Horizon Ridge Parkway over Interstate 11/U.S. Highway 95. That interchange has been open since 2015.
Contractors also will build a bridge over Green Valley Parkway at Village Walk Drive south of the 215. The bridge will allow cyclists and pedestrians to safely cross between the two sides of the outdoor shopping mall The District at Green Valley Ranch, without impeding vehicle traffic. The bridge also provides a safe crossing for the 215 Beltway Trail, which runs parallel to the freeway and is popular with cyclists and pedestrians.
Work on the Green Valley Parkway interchange can begin anytime after Jan. 1.
“The project is two years and nine months long, so they have the option to do that anywhere between January and the end of the project,” Conner said.
The diverging diamond set-up was the preferred method to increase traffic flow on Green Valley Parkway over the 215 because it doesn’t require the demolition of the current bridge or widening the road.
“That would’ve been a lot more disruption to the public,” Conner said. “That’s why we’re doing the diverging diamond and the bridge.”
The new interchange design and new pedestrian bridge are expected to lessen traffic congestion on Green Valley Parkway and the 215.
“The reason the bridge alleviates traffic is the signals have to time for someone walking, even when no one is there,” Conner said. “With the bridge, we won’t have to time the walker. So you’ll get a green (light) longer at Village Park Drive.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
