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StumbleOpening of I-15 express lanes delayed yet again
Thursday, June 10, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
New I-15 lanes
Sun archives
- State marks start of latest I-15 construction project (11-10-2009)
- New I-15 lanes to make debut Friday (10-28-2009)
- I-15 construction to force closure of lanes, ramps (10-21-2009)
- Losing bidders for I-15 widening project get $300,000 (8-26-09)
- Contractor selected for $270 million I-15 project (7-1-2009)
- Expect delays before freeway gets wider (12-5-2008)
Sun Coverage
The completion of the express lanes on Interstate 15 has been delayed again, the Nevada Department of Transportation says.
The express lanes are now expected to open June 30 instead of next week as expected, spokesman Bob Mckenzie said.
The project has been nothing but headaches to the transportation department as well as motorists when traffic backs up each day in the construction zone.
The express lanes were designed to provide a faster way for traffic to bypass the busy resort corridor portion of the freeway by adding an additional lane in each direction and separating two lanes to be used only for through traffic between Russell Road and Sahara Avenue.
Work on the project began in September 2008 and was scheduled to end in October 2009, but when the completion date came, work was nowhere near finished.
Construction crews encountered unexpected underground water near the railroad bridge between Spring Mountain and Flamingo roads.
Plus, crews had a hard time working around the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, where work has to stop when trains pass.
The transportation department opened parts of the new express lanes in October and said the entire project would be done in March or April. It then pushed the end date back again to June 15.
This week, the contractor called the transportation department and said it was going to take additional time to finish, Mckenzie said.
Once the lanes open, motorists will not be allowed to enter or leave the two express lanes between Flamingo Road and Sahara Avenue.
So far, the Nevada Highway Patrol has not been enforcing the lane crossings because of the ongoing work, but the final part of construction will be installing plastic delineators to keep cars from crossing in or out of the lanes.
Once work is complete on the I-15 South Design-Build Project in the Spring of 2012, the delineators will be continued south to Russell Road, where there will be a break to allow access to the beltway.
The project originally was expected to cost $21.5 million, with most of the money coming from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority’s room taxes.
The delays have run up the cost of the project, but a final price tag has not been announced.
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So I have a question - was there a study done prior to this construction? and if so why wasn't the water near the railroad bridge?
Sounding more to me like a way to bilk more money out of us the taxpayers....
Not surprised - when they announced the original 1 yr project timeline I was skeptical they could build a bridge over the UPRR in that short of a time span - think about when they were doing the bridge reconstruction on I-15 south between Russell and the beltway, on the beltway at Decatur, the Decatur project south of 215. None were on time because of the railroad having right-of-way over the highway system.
Of course jerryD, what else could it be? We live in the state of the cash grab and corruption! We are just the little tax payers who are getting lied to and fleeced by the criminals we constantly elect and reelect to line their own pockets.
Two years to add lanes? In the meantime, there is an accident just about everyday near the spaghetti loop. Whoever designed this freeway should have their head examined.
I assume they are going to enforce the lanes (when it is official) in the same manner as they enforce the HOV lanes on the 95....which is NOT AT ALL!
It will be another abused lane in Las Vegas unless they actually do put in those poles like they were supposed to.
Personally can the State of Nevada give us the HOV lanes back as regular lanes because it is not enforced.
WHAT A WASTE
This contractor is intentionally delaying this project so they can take more money from the taxpayers. Its that simple. A very corruption contractor trying to steal from the system by claiming bogus delays.
And they were just awarded a $70 million contract because they were the low bidder..
This harkens back to a previous protest where it was stated that it shouldn't always be the lowest bidder, but the most responsible bidder..
These companies bid and win jobs when they can't even handle the ones they already have..
And us taxpayers are footing the bill for Capriati to drag this job out..
Sounds like some research should have been done before the project started..
But then how would they be able to drag it out and bilk more dollars from NDOT..
See..the low bidder's price, isn't always the lowest bid in the long run.
I wonder how long the plastic lane dividers will last??? I say two weeks max before some drunk driver obliterates every one of them.
Then the contractor will want another $15 million dollars to put up new plastic tubes.
Oh, look! All the grumpy, do-nothing cynics are all fired up today. How refreshing!
This will be great once it's all completed, but the Russell Road exit from the Express Lanes is too close to the exit for safe crossover. We'll see how it plays out after a few months.
RPJ :
As usual you think everyone else who share's not your vision are "do nothing cynics" However the negativity of your comment tends to slant you on the side of a hypocrite..
RPJ,
You're right about the Russell Road exit. The end of the express lanes is designed to give access to the beltway, not Russell Road. If you want to take that exit, it's best to stay out of the express lanes, especially while construction continues in that area.