New road to provide traffic relief to booming west Henderson
A new road project aims to provide a new access point to the growing portion of the Las Vegas Valley and eventually to Interstate 15.
Construction on the $38 million, 2.75-mile Via Nobila arterial road project began on Nov. 1 and is expected to wrap up by the end of 2022, according to the city of Henderson.
The scope of the project calls for Via Nobila to consist of two lanes in each direction, with underground water lines, sewer, storm drains, infrastructure for traffic signals, and a bridge that will cross over a wash along the planned road.
A full traffic signal will be installed and operating at the future intersection of Via Nobila and Via Inspirada.
The east-west road will open up a new route for those who live and work in Inspirada and west Henderson areas, where industry is booming. The Raiders set up their headquarters and training facility there, and the Las Vegas Aces soon will join them next door. Amazon opened a distribution center in the area with other business parks and residential projects planned, such as the Haas Automation manufacturing plant and a new police substation.
Inspirada has about 12,500 residents, with the larger west Henderson area being home to an estimated 20,000 residents and 150 businesses. At full build-out. the area is expected to have nearly 75,000 residents and upward of 60,000 employees, according to Henderson spokeswoman Madeleine Skains.
“Via Nobila will provide critical infrastructure for the future growth and development of west Henderson, especially as Haas Automation comes closer to completing its 279-acre facility, which will bring additional employees commuting to the area as well as additional freight trucks,” Skains said. “As Henderson continues to expand, it’s our objective to have roadway infrastructure in place ahead of development to ease logistics and future traffic flow.”
Volunteer Road is the main artery between the area of Las Vegas Boulevard and Raiders Way and sees around 13,300 vehicles daily, according to 2020 Nevada Department of Transportation data. As traffic continues east on Volunteer, the number drops by about half to 7,400 vehicles a day between Raiders Way and Sun City Anthem.
Once open to traffic, Via Nobila will have the capacity to serve up to 25,000 vehicles daily, Skains said.
Not part of the current scope of work is a future I-15 interchange for Via Nobila. Henderson officials have been working with NDOT, the Regional Transportation Commission and Clark County on initial planning for the interchange.
The parties are in the early design phase of the I-15 interchange, which isn’t expected to be under construction until between 2026 and 2030, according to the State Transportation Improvement Plan.
NDOT agreed to begin preliminary design work on the interchange should the project move forward sooner than anticipated. Henderson obtained $1 million in Fuel Revenue Indexing funds from the RTC to go toward the design work on the interchange.
“The interchange will provide alternative access to west Henderson, Anthem and Inspirada master planned community,” Skains said. “It will also relieve traffic on Volunteer and Las Vegas boulevards.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter. Send questions and comments to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com.