Spaghetti Bowl-area changes seen

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Jan. 29, 2004 | 9:23 a.m.

Costly improvements to Interstate 15 and other roads just south of the Spaghetti Bowl can't come soon enough for some neighbors of the often congested highway interchange.

But others say they'll have to wait and see exactly what the changes will look like before deciding whether they will be improvements or a detriment to their area.

More than 60 people got a look Wednesday night at possible changes the state Transportation Department is proposing for the area around Interstate 15 between U.S. 95 and Sahara Avenue.

The proposals, which together are called Project Neon, include widening the freeway, building a bridge to connect Martin Luther King Boulevard to Industrial Road, redoing the Charleston Boulevard interchange and building a bridge over railroad tracks at Wyoming Avenue. All the proposed changes would work to ease traffic congestion on and around the highway, Project Manager Dan McMartin said.

McMartin said the project will cost $160 million to $270 million, depending on which version of the proposals is built. Construction is scheduled to start in 2007, with the first of the improvements to be finished by 2010, he said.

Rich Fedelleck, 49, a jeweler who lives on Alta Drive near the freeway, said the project looks like it will be a boon for him. In all three alternatives shown for widening or adding longer ramps to I-15 near the Spaghetti Bowl, there would also be a new off-ramp for Alta. Fedelleck said that off-ramp would greatly increase the value of his property for commercial development.

Fedelleck also liked the prospect of linking MLK and Industrial.

"That will keep a lot of local delivery trucks off the highway," he said, adding that sometimes he uses the highway to go just a few blocks south from his home because it's the easiest route now.

Scott Sauer, 26, of Las Vegas, said that while he wasn't familiar enough with the proposals to speak about them individually, overall he said anything to alleviate the traffic congestion would help.

"That's definitely an area that needs help," he said.

Walker Furniture owner Daryl Alterwitz and President Jack Campbell said they were pleased the proposed changes appeared like they would increase access to the business that is alongside I-15 at the Spaghetti Bowl.

However, the Transportation Department's three versions of changes to the freeway showed a new part of the road going over part of the furniture store.

"If it improves access it's all good," Campbell said. "But if the building goes, then it's not good. But it's early and conceptual at this point."

McMartin said changes to the proposed improvements are likely.

"Most of the lines are arbitrary and could move 50 to 100 feet," McMartin said referring to the exact placement of new roads and bridges.

But McMartin acknowledged some homes and businesses will have to be taken over no matter which alternatives are ultimately selected.

He said so far they haven't tried to count how many properties could be affected.

"We don't want to go through strips of homes or apartments, and if we get a whole neighborhood that says 'leave us alone' we'll look elsewhere," McMartin said. "But we show the possibility for some pretty hefty impacts."

The Wednesday meeting at the County Government Center was the public's chance to weigh in on the proposals, which McMartin said local governments will formally adopt as final plans in about a year. Additional comments will be accepted through Feb. 13.

Comments can be mailed to Daryl N. James, P.E. Chief Environmental Services Division, Nevada Department of Transportation, 1263 South Stewart Street, Carson City, Nevada 89712.

Additional information is also available by calling the project office at (888) 411-NEON.