Southbound Interstate 15 near downtown to be closed overnight Wednesday

By Mick Akers

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Motorists on southbound Interstate 15 north of downtown Las Vegas will need an alternative route Wednesday night.

The Nevada Department of Transportation will close southbound I-15 from Washington Avenue to the Spaghetti Bowl interchange from 10 p.m. Wednesday until 5 a.m. Thursday to install Active Traffic Management (ATM) signs.

Martin Luther King Boulevard under U.S. 95 will also be closed to local traffic from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. Several freeway ramps will be closed during the same time frame, including northbound and southbound U.S 95 ramps to Martin Luther King Boulevard; the northbound I-15 ramp to Martin Luther King Boulevard; and the Washington Avenue/D Street onramp to southbound 1-15.

The ATM signs are part of Project Neon – a $1 billion 3.7-mile-long widening of I-15 from the U.S. 95 interchange to Sahara Avenue. The full-color dynamic message signs provide next-generation, real-time information to motorists about detours, accidents and traffic restrictions.

“Installation of the Active Traffic Management signs is going well,” NDOT spokesman Tony Illia said. “The first signs are anticipated to be operational by year’s end.”

The largest signs resemble auxiliary scoreboards found in ballparks and stadiums, measuring 13-feet-tall by 77-feet-wide, Illia said.

Additionally, new digital speed-limit signs will go up on the sides of the freeway next to most ATM signs. The speed-limit signs allow NDOT to modify speed limits in an instant if a crash or a road hazard occurs.

The ATM signs will be placed near D Street, Washington Avenue, Bonanza Road, Desert Inn Road, Spring Mountain Road and Twain Avenue on Interstate 15 and at Rancho Drive, Avalon Circle, Valley View Boulevard, Seventh Street, Casino Center Drive and City Parkway on U.S. 95.

By the completion of Project Neon, the ATM signs will stretch from near the Spaghetti Bowl to Silverado Ranch Boulevard on Interstate 15.