If your route takes you through Nevada and Utah, you may have already experienced the traffic mess as a result of flood-damaged Interstate 15 north of Las Vegas.
Interstate 15 remains closed from mile marker 75 to 93 north of Las Vegas as crews continue repairing the road’s base underneath northbound lanes and repaving the top. Officials say they hope to have one lane open in each direction this evening at five p.m. for motorists.
Commercial vehicles are expected to be able to travel I-15 southbound once the interstate reopens tonight, but northbound I-15 will continue to restrict commercial vehicles for the next week or more.
This means that commercial vehicles heading northbound from Las Vegas will continue to be forced to use the long 77-mile detour via U.S. 93 north from 20 miles north of Las Vegas through Alamo and Caliente to state Route 319 through Panaca, then Utah Route 56, reconnecting to I-15 at Cedar City.
NDOT officials are routing trucks that direction because of a steep incline on northbound I-15 at Moapa that bogs down trucks and creates a traffic bottleneck.
The long detour is expected to last another seven to 10 days.
Local Moapa drivers should continue using U.S. 93 and State Route 168 detours while construction continues near exits 88, 90 and 91.
A spokesperson for NDOT said it could take several weeks to fully repair the damaged stretch of I-15. The interstate usually carries about 20,000 vehicles a day.
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