Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak to Use Federal Funds to Widen I-15 Tropicana Overpass

Posted on: January 15, 2022, 11:40h. 

Last updated on: January 15, 2022, 06:02h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) says money distributed to the state under the federal government’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill will be used to help complete the I-15 Tropicana Project in Las Vegas. The bill was signed in November by President Joe Biden.

Nevada Las Vegas Tropicana interchange I-15
Interstate 15 in Las Vegas is seen looking south towards Allegiant Stadium on the right and the Strip’s Luxor and Mandalay Bay casinos on the left. The Tropicana Avenue interchange along I-15 in Nevada is set for a major overhaul. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

The White House released allocation details of the massive spending bill last week. Under the first nationwide disbursement, Nevada is set to receive $45 million from the US government.

https://twitter.com/GovSisolak/status/1482037659484651522

Sisolak says the money will be used by the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) to help finance several critical infrastructure projects, including the I-15 overhaul at Tropicana Ave. just west of the Las Vegas Strip. The project includes widening and lengthening the overpass and repairing and upgrading existing components of the transportation infrastructure.

Traveling east from I-15 on Tropicana Avenue arrives on the Strip, at the casino intersection of Excalibur, Tropicana, MGM Grand, and New York-New York.

Stadium Corridor

The I-15 Tropicana Project is expected to cost $200 million. Along with a new bridge, the development includes the addition of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) ramps and dedicated lanes for through traffic to Dean Martin Drive from Tropicana Avenue.

The Tropicana overpass is one of the main gateways to the Strip resort corridor. With vehicular traffic already increasing because of Allegiant Stadium, which is located less than half of a mile south of Tropicana Avenue, NDOT says the area will only worsen in the coming years without substantial improvements.

The Tropicana Project is scheduled to break ground later this year. Construction is expected to last three years.

Three parking lots operated by Allegiant Stadium — lots T, U, and V — are near the Tropicana I-15 overpass. Allegiant Stadium recommends visitors access those three lots by way of Tropicana Avenue. Clark County in 2019 acquired more than 17 acres of land near Tropicana Avenue along Valley View Boulevard for $28 million. Those vacant parcels of land have since been turned into the T, U, and V parking lots.

The county investments are to help alleviate further traffic caused by the opening of Allegiant Stadium. The Raiders played their first NFL season in their new Las Vegas home in 2020. But because of the pandemic, fans were only welcomed beginning with the start of the 2021 season.

The Raiders are in the NFL playoffs for the first time since 2016. They play the Bengals in Cincinnati today at 4:15 pm ET. The Bengals are favored by six points.

Infrastructure Upgrades

Nevada expects to receive a total of $225 million in federal funding under the Biden infrastructure bill, which is formally known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

US Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee that wrote the infrastructure bill, says nearly 30 bridges in Nevada are classified as “structurally deficient.”

Along with federal funding, the I-15 Tropicana Project is being financed by NDOT and the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.

NDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released its Environmental Assessment report in February of 2020 that concluded that the Tropicana project will have no significant environmental impact on the region.