Scheduled blasting prompts I-15 delays near Calif. border

By Kyle B. Hansen

Monday, Aug. 10, 2009 | 1:59 a.m.

Parts of Interstate 15 will be closed every Tuesday and Thursday for blasting near the California-Nevada state line beginning this week.

Northbound lanes will be closed from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. for 10 weeks to allow crews to blast in the area between Bailey Road and Nipton Road near Wheaton Springs, Calif.

Southbound lanes will be closed for about half an hour beginning at 10 a.m. The southbound express lane will close at 9 a.m. and remain blocked until 11:30 a.m.

Motorists on their way to Las Vegas on these days are encouraged to wait in Baker, Calif., until the road reopens. Those traveling to California can wait in Primm during the closures.

The California Department of Transportation is widening about 12 miles of the interstate to add a new northbound truck-descending lane in the area around Mountain Pass.

The $91 million project also includes upgrades to the southbound truck-climbing lane and other improvements in the area.

The southbound lanes were closed one day a week for three months earlier this year for similar blasting work.

California officials say they have been working with the Nevada Department of Transportation and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to minimize the impact on those traveling to Las Vegas.

This round of blast work is expected to be completed by the end of October. The entire project should be finished in fall 2010.