Opening of stretch of southbound I-11 delayed until Wednesday
Motorists will have to wait a little longer to drive along a small segment of Southern Nevada’s newest freeway, thanks to construction delays.
The first 2 1/2-mile stretch of southbound Interstate 11 will open at 5 a.m. Wednesday, a day later than originally planned by the Nevada Department of Transportation.
Drivers headed south on U.S. Highway 93 will be directed onto southbound I-11’s concrete lanes near the Railroad Pass hotel in Henderson, NDOT spokesman Tony Illia said.
From there, vehicles will get to use a new 600-foot-long flyover bridge that connects I-11 with the overlapping U.S. highways 93 and 95.
Motorists headed to the Railroad Pass will have to pass their destination and turn around about a mile away at the interchange where U.S. 93 and U.S. 95 split, Illia said.
Drivers headed north on U.S. 93 won’t get to use I-11, but traffic lanes will be slightly shifted so that crews can complete the freeway.
The small segment of I-11 marks the first leg of an international trade route that is expected to ease cross-border trade from the Mexico border to Canada by running through Arizona, Nevada and Idaho.
NDOT Director Rudy Malfabon said on Monday that studies are underway to determine how I-11 will run through the Las Vegas Valley.
However, U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., is looking even farther down the road. The congressman sent a letter to NDOT’s board of directors on July 28, asking for a high-level environmental analysis to determine where I-11 might be routed through Mineral, Lyon and Churchill counties in western Nevada.
“While I understand the route selection process may be perceived as ‘political,’ the value of timely, flexible, open and transparent evaluation on record to dispel such perceptions is significant,” Amodei wrote to NDOT. “The planning process at the county, city and federal levels are worthy of consideration so as to avoid losing route options through procrastination.”
Rather than complete a costly environmental study, Malfabon said that NDOT could examine other options, including a widening of the two-lane U.S. Highway 95 just south of Mercury in Nye County.
“We’ve got it in the works for I-11,” Malfabon said.
Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Find @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.
Split opening for I-11
The Nevada Department of Transportation's entire segment of I-11, running between Silverline Road and Foothill Drive in Henderson, is scheduled to open by the end of December. However, a 2.5 stretch opens Wednesday morning.
An asphalt-covered section built by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, spanning 12.5 miles headed to the Colorado River, will open in June 2018.
Source: NDOT, RTC
