The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) awarded a $33.8 million construction contract to Las Vegas Paving for a 5-mi. (8 km)-long widening of Interstate 15 between Craig Road and Speedway Boulevard in North Las Vegas. The project will expand the highway from four to six travel lanes in each direction, plus install new lighting, signage and landscaping that features weathered steel art sculptures. Other work calls for drainage improvements as well as widening and seismic upgrades to four overpass structures at Range Road and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

“The project will improve safety and mobility through the northern Interstate 15 corridor, greatly reducing travel times and congestion,” said Rudy Malfabon, NDOT director. “It will also enhance traffic flows entering and exiting the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which is especially crucial during NASCAR events and the Electric Daisy Carnival.”

The section of interstate sees 41,600 vehicles daily; however, that figure is expected to increase 71 percent by 2033. The project will move 385,000 cu. yds. (294,354 cu m) of earth, which is enough dirt to fill 5,100 average sized swimming pools. Construction additionally entails placing 166,500 tons (151,046 t) of asphalt or enough blacktop paving to cover 33,300 driveways. The 18-month-long project will see up to 100 workers on site during the peak of activity.

Although construction will take place during daytime and nighttime hours, at least two lanes of traffic will remain open at all times in each direction during peak use hours. Work will start in August, with anticipated completion by early 2018.