All I-15 drivers will feel pain during road widening project

Susan Martinovich didn't mince words at a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for the $242 million Interstate 15 north widening, one of the state's super transportation projects.

"It is going to be painful construction, and we'll just admit this right now. It is not going to be fun to go through this project," the Nevada Department of Transportation's chief said before a conglomerate of engineers, construction workers and political leaders, including Gov. Jim Gibbons.

The project will widen I-15 from six to 10 lanes from the Spaghetti Bowl to Lake Mead Boulevard and from four and five lanes to eight lanes from Lake Mead to Craig Road.

The D Street, Lake Mead, Cheyenne Avenue and Craig interchanges will be reconstructed, and bridges at D Street, Bonanza Road and Washington Avenue will be rebuilt.

But Martinovich and transportation officials are hoping for quick pain, sort of like a Band-Aid being pulled off.

In terms of a transportation construction, this project, which saw work begin in November, is expected to be completed in about three years.

That contrasts with far longer construction projects such as the U.S. Highway 95 north widening, which took a decade to complete.

The more than 170,000 motorists who traverse the 5.5 miles of heavily congested interstate will begin to experience the pain in about four to six weeks, as I-15 north of the Spaghetti Bowl will be reduced to two lanes in each direction.

Jeff Hale, the project manager for the Transportation Department, said demolition of the bridges over D Street, Bonanza and Washington will begin in about a month. That will create a bottleneck of traffic on the freeway and force closures of several well-used onramps and offramps.

Hale said motorists who use I-15 north need to start looking for alternate routes now.

"People are going to have to be resourceful. We have to get people off the highway," Hale said.

Drivers can expect heavier congestion, lower speed limits, longer travel times, lane movements and disruptions, lots of cones, and fewer lanes, making for a hellish commute over the next year.

"People are not going to be happy," Hale said.

But officials are promising motorists will see results quickly because of the method of design and construction.

The widening project is the Transportation Department's first attempt at a "design-build" scheme, which overlaps the designing and building phases of a construction project.

Until now, the state has relied on the design-bid-build method, which follows the mantra that designing a project must be completely finished before a construction firm begins work, with time in between to put the contract out to bid.

"As far as transportation projects go in Nevada and elsewhere, this is going to be one of the fastest you will see built," Hale said.

The project is expected to be finished by fall 2010, but Hale is optimistic it might be done earlier that year.

The project is being designed and constructed by North Corridor Constructors, a joint-venture between Las Vegas Paving Corp. and the engineering firm CH2M Hill.

Joe Schroeder, project manager for CH2M Hill, said stepped-up public outreach efforts will be made in the coming weeks to help people prepare for the changes in their commute.

Part of that outreach includes the Web site www.i15project.com, which includes information and time lines for the project.

The widening is well overdue. That portion of I-15 was built in the 1960s, and little has been done to improve it since then.

Martinovich said, "I can guarantee that when we get done you will have a wonderful project, you'll have additional width, you'll have brand new bridges ... that will make it all worthwhile."

But first comes the pain.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904.

SPAGHETTI BOWL MISTAKE COMES BACK TO HAUNT SIGN MAKERS

Turns out neither vandals nor pranksters changed a sign on U.S. Highway 95 encouraging motorists to head north to Los Angeles at the Spaghetti Bowl.

Instead transportation officials believe strong winds were to blame for the errant signage at exit 76A on northbound U.S. 95. The sign offered drivers a chance to go north on Interstate 15 and at the same time head to the City of Angels.

The answer to the mystery goes back about a decade, to the construction of the Spaghetti Bowl.

When first created, the sign contained the directional error, said Bob McKenzie, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Transportation.

So to rectify that, workers back then made a plate with "Sou" on it to be placed over the "Nor" part of the sign. When transportation workers fixed the sign Thursday, they found the plate with "Sou" on it at the scene, McKenzie said.

McKenzie said workers believe the plate fell off the sign only a few days ago.

The Review-Journal was alerted to the improper signage by readers earlier this week and contacted transportation officials.