Opening of I-15 express lanes delayed yet again

By Kyle B. Hansen

Thursday, June 10, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

The completion of the express lanes on Interstate 15 has been delayed again, the Nevada Department of Transportation says.

The express lanes are now expected to open June 30 instead of next week as expected, spokesman Bob Mckenzie said.

The project has been nothing but headaches to the transportation department as well as motorists when traffic backs up each day in the construction zone.

The express lanes were designed to provide a faster way for traffic to bypass the busy resort corridor portion of the freeway by adding an additional lane in each direction and separating two lanes to be used only for through traffic between Russell Road and Sahara Avenue.

Work on the project began in September 2008 and was scheduled to end in October 2009, but when the completion date came, work was nowhere near finished.

Construction crews encountered unexpected underground water near the railroad bridge between Spring Mountain and Flamingo roads.

Plus, crews had a hard time working around the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, where work has to stop when trains pass.

The transportation department opened parts of the new express lanes in October and said the entire project would be done in March or April. It then pushed the end date back again to June 15.

This week, the contractor called the transportation department and said it was going to take additional time to finish, Mckenzie said.

Once the lanes open, motorists will not be allowed to enter or leave the two express lanes between Flamingo Road and Sahara Avenue.

So far, the Nevada Highway Patrol has not been enforcing the lane crossings because of the ongoing work, but the final part of construction will be installing plastic delineators to keep cars from crossing in or out of the lanes.

Once work is complete on the I-15 South Design-Build Project in the Spring of 2012, the delineators will be continued south to Russell Road, where there will be a break to allow access to the beltway.

The project originally was expected to cost $21.5 million, with most of the money coming from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority’s room taxes.

The delays have run up the cost of the project, but a final price tag has not been announced.