Part of I-15 returning to normal this week — but there will be closures first
A traffic choke point on Interstate 15 near the resort corridor will return to full capacity this week as a $382 million, three-year reconstruction project wraps up.
I-15 between Hacienda and Harmon avenues will return to five lanes in each direction on Friday after a series of road and freeway ramp closures, including full overnight directional closures of I-15 this week, as the yearslong I-15/Tropicana interchange project, which began in 2022, winds down.
The stretch of I-15 has been down to four lanes in each direction for over a year and is a common spot for traffic congestion, especially during the morning and evening rush hours.
This week, crews will be installing vehicle detection loops on freeway ramps, which will work with ramp meters to help regulate merging to decrease congestion. They will also be prepping for the lane reopenings, which is why the overnight closures are needed.
“The effort is part of a broader package of tech improvements — including Active Traffic Management signs, upgraded signals, and a wrong-way driver alert system — all designed to make travel safer and more efficient,” Kelsey McFarland, NDOT spokeswoman said in a statement.
I-15 southbound will be restored to five lanes Thursday morning, with I-15 northbound returning to full capacity Friday morning, both after overnight full directional closures of the freeway.
This week’s freeway and ramp closures are:
— Between 9 p.m. Tuesday and 5 a.m. Wednesday, the I-15 southbound off-ramp to Tropicana westbound and the I-15 southbound flyover ramp to Tropicana eastbound will be closed.
— Between 9 p.m. Wednesday and 5 a.m. Thursday, I-15 southbound between Flamingo and Russell roads will be closed. During those working hours, I-15 southbound on-ramps from Flamingo and Harmon will be closed. The I-15 southbound off-ramps to Flamingo east, Tropicana east and westbound and to Russell will also be closed.
— Between 9 p.m. Thursday and 5 a.m. Friday, I-15 northbound between the 215 Beltway and Flamingo will be closed. During those hours, on-ramps to I-15 from Russell, Tropicana and the 215 west and eastbound ramps to I-15 northbound will also be closed. I-15 northbound off-ramps to Tropicana, Frank Sinatra and Arena drives, Harmon and Flamingo will be closed.
“By Friday morning, May 16, all lanes on I-15 will be fully open — restoring five lanes of travel in each direction through this key corridor,” McFarland said. “HOV lanes will remain temporarily open to all drivers until paving and final striping are completed this summer.”
Aside from the I-15 repaving and restriping, crews still need to finish widening work on Tropicana west of the I-15 interchange. That work, occurring on Tropicana between Valley View Boulevard and Polaris Avenue, is expected to wrap up in the fall.
The major road project included the demolition of the Tropicana bridge, which allowed crews to raise and widen the structure over I-15. The adding of the Harmon high-occupancy vehicle half-interchange, the reconfiguration of Dean Martin Drive and the addition of Joey Bishop Drive were part of the project. The four-way intersection at Tropicana and Dean Martin was eliminated as part of Dean Martin’s new layout.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
