The Latest on the U.S. 95 Widening
Today in my special report we took a look at where we are now when it comes to the 95 Widening project. Believe it or not… the final countdown is on! The project should be complete in a couple of weeks. In fact, most of the new northbound and southbound lanes should be open by the end of THIS week!
It really is going to make a difference. My photographer Matt and I were on the newly paved carpool lanes near Jones last week. Wow, the bright white lane markings and fresh paved road is great. I could see traffic moving faster already.
The wider highway includes five lanes on each side of the highway between the Rainbow Curve & Spaghetti Bowl. One of those lanes is an HOV or Carpool lane. The ones marked with a diamond. (We’ll have Carpool 101 coming up Tuesday)
Almost all the interchanges include new on and off ramps… plus there are new soundwalls too!
The Nevada Department of Transportation thinks the wider highway will really make a difference and an easier commute for all! They expect to have a good portion done any day now. There are still some ramp closures this week ( Southbound on ramps at Decatur & Valley View).
The project started back in January 2006. The Grand Opening Ceremony is scheduled for December 17th. The Governor and U.S. Secretary of Transportation will be there.
Tags: construction, traffic, US 95, Widening
Categories: traffic
November 9th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
The N/B 95 widening looks completely finished. Are they waiting to open the HOV for the “grand opening”? The speed this whole project has gone, it does not appear that NDOT cares about those of us stuck in traffic. We do not care about a grand opening, just finish the project and open the lanes.
November 10th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Hi Maxwell… all the carpool lanes will be open by next week. They are last to open because NDOT is still painting the diamonds on the lanes. They wanted to get the general lanes open as soon as possible! Hope this helps. Dayna
November 24th, 2007 at 12:36 am
Is there any news about widening the 95 bottleneck at the spaghetti bowl at any point?
November 27th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Kevin… I think the bottleneck is caused by the fact that the MLK off ramp is closed… the city is preparing to widen MLK and the ramp won’t reopen until that is complete!
January 14th, 2008 at 6:43 am
About 8 weeks ago a question was answered by a metro officer om your morning show about maintaining your lane when making a left hand turn. I am positive that he said when there are 2 lanes turning left the leftmost driver has to stay in the leftmost lane, but that the driver in the right lane of the two, has the option of staying in the 2nd lane or taking the third lane. I believe even Dave had commented that was a surprise. I think most people thought that you had to maintain your lane for at least 100 feet before changing lanes. Well I used the option of the third lane and got a ticket for $190 on Saturday. This is most distressing to me as I am on Social Security. The officer told me that the information on your program was incorrect and that you do have to maintain your lane. Could you please give me the name of the officer from that report that morning and the date of it, or a copy of the broadcast so I have some sort of evidance that I got my information from a metro officer and therefore believed it to be true. I think the ticketing officer thought I was making it up. Also would you find out which officer was correct and if the origional officer was incorrect, air the information for other viewers so that I am not the only viewer who gets a ticket.
February 12th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
With the opening of the newly-widened 95 from the Spaghetti Bowl to Rainbow Blvd, the new bottleneck is now the N/B stretch from Craig Rd to the 215. Do you know if there are any plans to widen this stretch in the near future, or is it already under way?
February 13th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Yes Ronnie, they will be working in this area as well. Here are the details from a recent hearing they had to prepare for the widening:
The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT), in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) addressing the potential impacts of the US 95 Northwest corridor improvements project. The project would widen the roadway to include one high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane in each direction and six general purpose lanes (three in each direction) from Washington Avenue to Durango Drive, and six general purpose lanes (three in each direction) from Durango Drive to Kyle Canyon Road. Other project components include new service interchanges at Horse Drive and Kyle Canyon Road, the system-to-system interchange between US 95 and the Bruce Woodbury Beltway (CC-215), and improvements to the Cheyenne Avenue, Rancho Drive/Ann Road, and Durango Drive interchanges. Auxiliary lanes between interchanges would be built throughout the project limits in the northbound and southbound directions except for the portion of US 95 between Centennial Parkway and Durango Drive where the traffic analysis indicates auxiliary lanes are not warranted. Ramp metering facilities would be installed at all entrance ramps and include HOV bypass lanes from Washington Avenue to Durango Drive. A new park-and-ride facility would be constructed by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) and NDOT in the southwest quadrant of the US 95/Durango Drive interchange.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
What is the latest on the US 95 Northwest corridor enhancement project between Washington and Durango?
Is this a widening project? If so, how will it effect homes in this area? Are homes to be knocked down to make room for widening?
This is of concern to me since I live between Washington and Vegas Dr on the West side of US 95.