Las Vegas Paving workers repair the northbound lanes of Interstate 15 near Moapa Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014. About 1 mile of freeway was severely damaged by runoff from Monday’s storm. The Nevada Department of Transportation expects to have two lanes open by the weekend, a spokesman said.
Published Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014 | 10:07 a.m.
Updated Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014 | 11:34 a.m.
Related news
Road crews were making progress toward re-opening a washed-out stretch of Interstate 15, a transportation official said Thursday, while property damage from flash flooding earlier this week was being assessed in nearby Moapa Valley and an adjacent Indian reservation.
As of Thursday morning, the I-15 remained closed between mile marker 75 and 93, according to Nevada Department of Transportation spokeswoman Meg Ragonese. Construction crews are currently working on rebuilding the road's base underneath northbound lanes and plan to start repaving this evening. Mohamed Rouas, assistant district engineer with the transportation department, said they hope to have one lane open in each direction by Friday evening at five p.m.
Long-haul trucks will not immediately be allowed back on the northbound I-15 when it reopens. They will need to continue to use detours through Panaca, Nevada, and Cedar City, Utah, for the next week or more, according to Ragonese. They should be able to use the southbound lanes.
Local Moapa drivers should continue using U.S. 93 and State Route 168 detours while construction continues near exits 88, 90 and 91.
More than 4 inches of rain fell in less than two hours in Moapa's hard-baked desert hills.
Gov. Brian Sandoval has declared a state of emergency in the area due to damage.
The damage assessment involving Glendale, Moapa and the Moapa Band of Paiutes reservation came after officials tallied 48 damaged homes in the Overton and Logandale areas downstream on the Muddy River, Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling said.
No dollar estimate was immediately available.
Residents can report flood damage through a phone hotline, 702-455-5717.
County lawmakers will be asked Tuesday for an emergency declaration clearing the way for the region to receive state and federal relief funds.
The flooding also damaged a Union Pacific rail freight line and swelled a river so high that Zion National Park in Utah was briefly closed.
The storm, spawned by the remnants of Tropical Storm Norbert, dumped heavy rain throughout the Southwest and set a single-day rainfall record Monday in Phoenix.
Nevada Department of Transportation spokeswoman Julie Duewel said it could take several weeks to fully repair the damaged stretch of I-15. The interstate usually carries about 20,000 vehicles a day.
Authorities have opened a serpentine detour between Exits 75 and 93 through Nevada's Valley of Fire State Park to passenger cars, buses and recreational vehicles.
Trucks were detoured to U.S. 93, Nevada State Route 319, and Utah State Route 56.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy