Interstate 15 is a vital artery for each California and Las Vegas. Aside from commerce, it funnels that candy tourism cash into Las Vegas. As the years have gone on, nonetheless, and an increasing number of individuals go to Sin City, I-15 can grow to be a slog, particularly on main holidays. This previous Memorial Day weekend noticed a 12-mile-long site visitors jam on the California/Nevada state line; it took some individuals 9 or ten hours to get again dwelling to Southern California. Issues like this present simply how badly I-15 must be widened to deal with the site visitors, absent mass transportation. California beforehand promised to do this, but, as Las Vegas’ Fox 5 experiences, metropolis officers are nonetheless ready for California to pitch in for the interstate.
In December 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak held a press convention to announce that California could be increasing a portion of I-15. With a $12 million price ticket, Newsom mentioned the mission could be accomplished in the summertime of 2022. But 2022 got here and went and there was no growth, at the least not the way in which it was imagined to be. Just a mile stretch of I-15 has been expanded.
“They need to get their acts together,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman mentioned when referring to California officers. Goodman is conscious of the site visitors points, but she’s additionally conscious of simply how vital tourism is for Vegas’ business. “Selfishly for us, it is tourism. It is the convention business,” Goodman mentioned. She continued, “I’m ready to go out there with a shovel to show that we care about all of you from California, we want you to have a great time.” But she hopes Californians take part with venting their frustrations about I-15 site visitors to California officers. The growth has been a very long time coming. “It will be a quarter of a century we are screaming at California come on do something,” Goodman mentioned.
But California is appearing like an individual avoiding a invoice collector. It took two months for Fox 5 to get a solution from the California Department of Transportation. The company lastly issued a press release:
Caltrans has opened a one-mile transition lane that permits motorists to merge easily from three to 2 lanes alongside southbound I-15 on the California-Nevada border. This one-mile transition lane has saved drivers touring from Las Vegas to Southern California a mean of 30-40 minutes on non-holiday weekends with little to no queuing across the border.
Plans to enhance site visitors circumstances within the space embody the opening of a 3rd, southbound part-time lane for 5 miles from the state line to the California Department of Food and Agricultural station. The timing of opening the lane remains to be being decided as Caltrans works with our federal companions and the Southern California Association of Governments on the required regulatory approvals.
Source: jalopnik.com