More than 170,000 drivers use the north part of Interstate 15 every day. Thursday, a highly anticipated projected that will reduce congestion got underway. The I-15 North Widening Project will make the commute so much easier for drivers.

Thursday, Governor Jim Gibbons joined the Nevada Department of Transportation for the groundbreaking ceremony. The project will begin at the spaghetti bowl and end at Craig Road.

From the spaghetti bowl to Lake Mead, lanes will grow from six lanes to 10. Then from Lake Mead to Craig, the lanes will be expanded from five lanes to eight.

“This project is going to make that trip a lot more efficient, a lot more effective and a lot smoother and quicker for all of those motorists,” said Gibbons.

Jeff Hale, NDOT's project manager for I-15 widening said, “We're asking people to be patient. It is going to be difficult but I tell you what when this thing opens up, it's going to be hugely improved over what's up there now.”

The project will cost a total of $240 million. NDOT hopes to have it completed by August, 2010. Until then, there will be many lane restrictions and changes that will clog the commute.

But don't worry — a website has been created that will help drivers know what closures will affect them and when. You can even sign up for cell phone and e-mail alerts.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 5:52 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.