Traffic moves on the I-15 freeway in this time exposure photograph Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.
Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Large trucks driving on Interstate 15 often hit the Tropicana bridge, which is too low to reach federal height requirements.
Some fans commuting to a Golden Knights hockey game encounter traffic on the highway near Tropicana, where those heading to T-Mobile Arena exit.
And every day Las Vegans making a commute to the other parts of the valley are constantly sitting and waiting in their travels with traffic starting to snarl near Tropicana.
By 2025, officials with the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) anticipate those hiccups will be lessened.
The $305 million Interstate 15-Tropicana Interchange project — affectionately called “Dropicana” by officials — begins today with the demolition of the bridge at Tropicana and closure of off-ramps to accommodate the construction. Officials say the eastbound flyover at Tropicana that brings drivers to the Strip will be closed starting today for 18 months; the westbound exit will be shuttered for nine months.
“The combination of new resorts and professional sports teams and venues have attracted more visitors to the city, drawing as many as 300,000 visitors on major holiday weekends,” NDOT officials said in a statement. “The widening of the Tropicana interchange will add capacity, improve accessibility to the Strip and allow for the future widening of I-15 as the population continues to grow.”
The road and bridge upgrades will come with some immediate inconvenience for commuters, especially if they aren’t aware of the many closures, officials stress.
That includes Interstate 15 being completely closed between Russell Road and Flamingo Road from 10 a.m. Jan. 27 to 5 a.m. Jan. 30. Additionally, Tropicana will be closed from Dean Martin Drive and New-York for eight days from Sunday to 5 a.m. Jan. 30.
The closures are being labeled as a “regional traffic event,” which means the congestion won’t be limited to the highway. Commuters who usually exit at Tropicana will have to adjust their routes, meaning side streets will also become jumbled with cars.
But the two years of delays, while surely a pain to many motorists, should be worth the sacrifice to alleviate the current congestion, officials said. The project will provide more efficient traffic flow in and around the Tropicana interchange, improved travel time reliability on I-15 and Tropicana, enhanced safety for motorists and pedestrians and improved air quality, they said.
More important, it will give easier access to and from the Resort Corridor.
NDOT spokesman Justin Hopkins said resort and tourism stakeholders have conducted weekly meetings on Thursdays to detail immediate upcoming construction. The meetings have been attended by everyone from representatives of Strip properties to small-business owners who have shops in the affected areas.
The transportation department also produces brochures in English and Spanish to be distributed to resort workers so they are aware of potential delays in their commute to and from the Strip.
“We are talking about the most efficient plans and making sure everyone is well aware of what’s happening,” he said.
Resorts didn’t respond to requests to participate in this story.
NDOT is hoping that the Tropicana widening will “make it easier for drivers to get to the Strip, and safer for people walking on and around Tropicana.” They also want to “make room so that widening the I-15 in the future can be possible.”
Tropicana will be widened from three lanes to four from Las Vegas Boulevard to Valley View Drive, officials said. The enhancements also include adding an HOV half-interchange on the south side of Harmon Avenue, improving traffic signals at 12 intersections and building more walkways for pedestrians.
The project is funded by $159.7 million in federal funds, $50 million of which comes from an Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2020. The remainder of the funding comes from state gas tax revenue.
It is another major project to accommodate the growth in the region.
Previous large-scale construction work has been done on areas of the I-15 before, such as the $1 billion Project Neon, which finished in summer 2019 and enhanced roughly 4 miles of I-15 between Sahara Avenue and the Spaghetti Bowl interchange in downtown.
It is still Nevada’s “largest and most expensive public works job” to this day, according to NDOT.
