Car-Nado. It sounds like a cheesy horror flick just in time for Halloween, but it is actually the name given by the Nevada Department of Transportation to major ramp closures in downtown Las Vegas that will last several months, frightening many motorists in the area.
Beginning at 10 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Oct. 26, NDOT will install 24/7 closures of Interstate 15 southbound and northbound ramps to U.S. Highway 95 in an area known as the “Spaghetti Bowl,” according to a press release. The ramps are not expected to open until late-February 2017.
I-15 ramps to Martin Luther King Boulevard will also be closed, as well as the U.S. Highway 95 northbound ramp to MLK Boulevard. Despite ramp closures, both directions of Highway 95 and I-15 will remain open to through traffic.
Detours include:
I-15 Southbound to U.S. 95 Northbound
Traffic will exit at Lake Mead Boulevard westbound and head south on Martin Luther King Boulevard for access to U.S. 95 northbound.
I-15 Northbound to U.S. 95 Northbound
Traffic will be detoured onto the Martin Luther King Boulevard exit ramp and back onto U.S. 95 northbound via a temporary one-lane detour with a reduced speed limit.
U.S. 95 Northbound to Martin Luther King Boulevard
Detour traffic will continue onto U.S. 95 northbound to Rancho Drive and turnaround on U.S. 95 southbound to exit at Martin Luther King Boulevard.
I-15 Northbound to Martin Luther King Boulevard
Detour traffic will exit Charleston Boulevard westbound and turn north to access Martin Luther King Boulevard.
I-15 Southbound to Martin Luther King Boulevard
Detour traffic will exit at Lake Mead Boulevard westbound to access Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Closures are part of a demolition of a two-lane bridge over MLK Boulevard, which is part of the greater Project Neon, a nearly $1 billion 3.7-mile-long widening of I-15 from the U.S. 95 interchange to Sahara Avenue.
According to an NDOT press release, the upcoming ramp closures were dubbed “Car-Nado” to raise driver awareness about the severity and impact of the multi-month-long event.
