Project Neon

Las Vegas, Nevada

Nearly two decades in the making, Project Neon is the state of Nevada’s largest and most expensive transportation public works project ever built. This Nevada Department of Transportation project represents an almost $1 billion infrastructure investment in the heart of Las Vegas. Reaching substantial completion in May 2019, Project Neon provided much-needed operations, safety, and mobility improvements along I-15 from south of the Sahara Avenue/I 15 interchange to the I 15/US 95/I-515 “Spaghetti Bowl” interchange.

This 3.7 miles is the busiest stretch of highway in Nevada with 300,000 vehicles daily, which equals one-tenth of the state population, seeing 25,000 lane changes per hour, resulting in three crashes every day, prior to the project. Add the fact that I-15 is the only freeway connection between southern California and southern Utah and traffic through the corridor is expected to double by 2035, and this project becomes an extremely critical piece of infrastructure for local and regional travel.

Major freeway improvements included:

• Ramp braiding to reduce merge and weave traffic on I-15
• Expansion of the area’s High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) network, creating 20+ contiguous miles of HOV lanes with improved access and connectivity, including: HOV direct connect ramp between U.S. 95 (west of Spaghetti Bowl) and I-15 (south of Spaghetti Bowl), Conversion of express lanes on I-15 to one HOV lane and one general purpose lane, and HOV interchange near downtown with access directly to/from the HOV lane
• Reconstruction of the I-15/Charleston Boulevard interchange, the main point of access for downtown and the new Las Vegas Medical District (LVMD)
• 42 state-of-the-art Active Traffic Management (ATM) signs on I-15 and US 95 to dynamically manage traffic congestion
• Extensive aesthetic and landscape improvements