Las Vegas road crews take advantage of light traffic to get projects done

Drivers still on the road while much of Southern Nevada stays home because of the coronavirus crisis may have noticed more construction than normal.

That’s by design.

With fewer people on the roads, the Nevada Department of Transportation saw an opportunity to get more work done with less disruption to commuters.

“Construction is still moving forward on all planned and current road projects, as well as maintenance activities, without interruption,” NDOT spokesman Tony Illia said.

“In fact, we are accelerating work to take advantage of diminished traffic counts wherever possible, scheduling overnight work for daytime hours, in some instances,” he said.

For example, two lanes in each direction on Interstate 15 will be closed from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. today between Craig Road and Cheyenne Avenue. Crews are taking advantage of the light traffic to survey for a future bridge project.

Other NDOT projects are also underway, including a $99 million interchange project between the I-15 and 215 Beltway, even though a March 26 groundbreaking ceremony was canceled.

“As it stands, we are exploring possibly accelerating future projects to take advantage of the diminished traffic counts,” Illia said.

Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered all nonessential businesses closed in mid-March for 30 days, later extending the shutdown through the end of this month. Construction was deemed an essential activity under the directive.

As road crews continue to work, they are following prescribed safety protocols. Work is done in groups of 10 or fewer, and workers are staying at least six feet apart, even if that means dividing a job into multiple shifts.

“It’s our feeling that it’s more important than ever to keep the state’s roads and bridges open and operating in order to keep a consistent delivery of critical supplies and materials flowing into Southern Nevada, including food and medicine,” Illia said.