LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Major closures of Interstate 15 and Tropicana Avenue this weekend meant more traffic and longer commutes for some Las Vegas locals.
The closures are part of the next phase of the Nevada Department of Transportation's "Dropicana" project, which involves demolishing the Tropicana Avenue bridge over I-15 and widening Tropicana Avenue, one of only a few major thoroughfares that cross the Las Vegas Strip.
“It’s gotten a lot more inconvenient...I've had the route memorized, but now I have to pull up the GPS to find other routes to get home,” said Carson Neuman, who drives Tropicana Avenue for the gym.
Neuman lives in Henderson but makes the drive frequently.
"It's just frustrating — but I mean, it's Vegas. They're always doing construction here, there, everywhere,” Neuman said.
This weekend's closures are part of a second phase of the project which NDOT is calling "Dropicana 2.0."
"We are not only adding an additional lane on Tropicana in each direction, but we are taking that widening all the way through Valley View [Boulevard] to the west,” said Justin Hopkins, the public information officer for NDOT.
With that comes lots of construction and several closures. Through the weekend, I-15 was closed in both directions between Flamingo and Russell roads. Both directions of Tropicana Avenue where shut down from New York-New York to Dean Martin Drive on Thursday night and are scheduled to remain closed through 5 a.m. Tuesday.
During this phase, crews will demolish and rebuild the south side of the Tropicana bridge, just as they did previously with the north side.
On Tuesday, half of the bridge will reopen to let traffic flow during construction.
"Everything will be on this new northern half of the bridge and the diverging diamond interchange will return,” Hopkins said.
NDOT expects the newly built north side of the bridge to have fewer issues with traffic flow during construction, Hopkins added.
“We have so much more real estate, room on this bridge — it's wider; the diverging diamond will be a little more obvious,” Hopkins said.
The south side of thee bridge is expected to be rebuilt this summer, and the full project is expected to last through mid-2025.
