I-15 north project wrapping up five months early

Holy nearly completed interstate construction projects, Batman!

I hate to sound overly enthusiastic about a government funded construction project, but I've got some very good news if you're one of the 170,000 motorists who daily traverse the 51/2 miles of Interstate 15 between the Spaghetti Bowl and Craig Road.

The I-15 north widening project will be "substantially complete" by the end of the year, according to a state transportation official.

That means the road will be open to full capacity, said Rudy Malfabon, the Nevada Department of Transportation deputy director for Southern Nevada.

Come the new year, I-15 north will be widened from six to 10 lanes from the Spaghetti Bowl to Lake Mead Boulevard, and from four and five lanes to eight lanes from Lake Mead to Craig Road.

"We still need to do a final layer of open grade paving to seal the road, but we have to do it when the temperature is warmer," Malfabon said. "We're going to have to come back when it's above 70 degrees."

Until the final paving is done, "the striping won't be the prettiest," Malfabon said.

But hey, who's complaining if all those lanes are open to traffic.

If you have driven on I-15 north recently, you have probably noticed the changes.

Although there are still only two lanes in each direction, the interstate is newly paved. And the lanes do not twist nearly as much.

Completion of the project isn't expected until spring 2010, Malfabon said.

I'll point out that the $240 million project is five months ahead of schedule.

It was supposed to be finished by fall 2010.

Malfabon credits the speed of construction to the "design-build" scheme, which overlaps the designing and building phases of a construction project.

In the past, the state has relied on the design-bid-build method, which follows the mantra that a project's design must be completed before a construction firm begins work, with time in between to put the contract out to bid.

One of the benefits of the design-build process is it allows engineers and builders to work closely together and come up with innovative techniques that speed up the work, Malfabon said.

But if there was one decision that accelerated the project more than any other, it was Transportation Department Director Susan Martinovich's decision to allow I-15 traffic to be reduced to two lanes north of the Spaghetti Bowl.

The original plan was to have three lanes open in each direction.

Reducing the open traffic lanes to two allowed the design-build team to work on a greater area of the project at once.

"She saw the benefit," Malfabon said. "It was a little bit more painful to drivers, but when those lanes open up by the end of the year they will see the benefits."

A lot of construction still must be done, including redoing the Lake Mead Boulevard interchange and revamping the interchanges at Washington Avenue and D Street.

In the meantime, West Las Vegas residents continue to move ahead with their lawsuit that accuses the city of trying to segregate the historically black community from the downtown area by closing F Street during the interstate construction.

The lawsuit contends the Transportation Department and the city of Las Vegas did not perform due diligence during the public comment period of the project. State officials have said they met all the requirements regarding public meetings and comment periods.

According to Trish Geran, a leader of the F Street Coalition, the group wants to move ahead with the discovery portion of the lawsuit to find out who ordered the closure of F Street.

That's even though the state Legislature passed a bill this session ordering that $70 million be spent by the city and state to reopen F Street.

It's an interesting risk to take, considering that if the lawsuit is dismissed, the Legislature during the 2011 session could revoke the law.

"The historic westside community ... is willing to take the risk to discover who ordered the closing of F Street," Geran said.

"The community is outraged and questions the city's motives. The residents are focused on the pursuit of discovery and feel the knowledge of the truth will set them free."

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