Tropicana bridge traffic capacity over I-15 to be increased for Super Bowl

Tropicana Avenue over Interstate 15 is scheduled to close next weekend for crews to increase road capacity ahead of the Super Bowl.

From 1 a.m. Saturday to 9 p.m. Feb. 1, Tropicana will be shut to traffic between Dean Martin Drive and New York-New York, the Nevada Department of Transportation announced.

The closure is needed to reconfigure the traffic pattern on Tropicana over I-15. The newly constructed north half of the Tropicana bridge will be used to expand the current two lanes in each direction capacity to three lanes in each direction. The work is part of the $305 million I-15-Tropicana road project.

The diverging diamond interchange setup will also be temporarily removed during this time. The north half will feature the three westbound lanes and is slightly higher than the older south half of the bridge, where the three eastbound lanes will be.

Motorists on I-15 southbound will have access to Tropicana westbound. Motorists on I-15 southbound looking to access the area near westbound Tropicana should exit at either Russell or Flamingo.

The I-15 northbound on-ramp from Tropicana will only be accessible to westbound traffic. The I-15 southbound on-ramp from Tropicana will only be accessible to eastbound traffic.

This will ease congestion between the resort corridor and Allegiant Stadium, the site of the Super Bowl on Feb. 11. During Super Bowl week, more than 330,000 people are expected to converge on the Las Vegas Valley, where over 100 special events are planned on the Strip and downtown leading up to the big game.

In order for the temporary traffic configuration on Tropicana to be possible, NDOT made extra money available to project contractor Kiewit Infrastructure West to add extra shifts to ensure the north half of the bridge was completed in time for the Super Bowl.

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill said last year that the work is part of the plan to make this the least congested Super Bowl in history.

The temporary configuration will be in place for about two weeks between 9 a.m. Feb. 1 and 9 p.m. Feb. 14.

When the Super Bowl is over, crews again will close Tropicana to traffic between Dean Martin and New York-New York, as the three lanes in each direction setup is removed and the southern half of the bridge will be demolished as part of Dropicana 2.0. That closure is scheduled to last six days between 9 p.m. Feb. 14 and 5 a.m. Feb. 20.

That work will also include a full closure of I-15 in both directions between Russell and Flamingo roads. That is scheduled to occur between 9 p.m. Feb. 16 and 5 a.m. Feb. 19.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.