Las Vegas Beltway

Las Vegas Beltway
Bruce Woodbury Beltway
Route information
Maintained by Nevada DOT and Clark Co. Public Works
Length:	53 mi[2] (85 km) NDOT maintains 4.628 miles (7.448 km) of I-215[1]
Existed:	1996 – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-515 / US 93 / US 95 / SR 564 in Henderson
	I-15 in Enterprise Summerlin Pkwy in Las Vegas US 95 in Las Vegas
North end:	I-15 / US 93 in North Las Vegas
Highway system
Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business Nevada highways ← SR 208 SR 221 →

The Las Vegas Beltway (officially named the Bruce Woodbury Beltway) is the name of the 53-mile (85 km) beltway route circling three-quarters of the Las Vegas Valley in southern Nevada. The Las Vegas Beltway carries two numerical designations. Approximately 13 miles (21 km) of the beltway, from its southern terminus at Interstate 515/U.S. Route 93/U.S. Route 95 in Henderson northwest to Interstate 15, is designated Interstate 215 (I-215). Clark County Route 215 (CC 215) composes the remaining 40 miles (64 km) of the highway.

The Las Vegas Beltway currently consists of two different road types: freeway and a limited access expressway. The beltway is currently a freeway from the I-515 interchange in Henderson to just north of Cheyenne Avenue in western Las Vegas. The remainder of the beltway is primarily expressway, with several expressway sections currently being upgraded to Interstate Highway standards.

Construction of the Beltway was initially planned and constructed by Clark County. This marked the first time in the United States that a county has overseen the construction of an Interstate highway with little to no state or federal funding. Once completely upgraded to freeway, it is anticipated that the CC 215 portion of the beltway will be designated I-215 and the entire facility turned over to the Nevada Department of Transportation for maintenance (currently, NDOT only maintains the beltway from I-515 to Stephanie Street and Warm Springs Road to I-15).

Route description

Beginning of CC 215, as viewed from the I-15 southbound overpass

The Las Vegas Beltway begins in Henderson, at the I-515/US 93/US 95 interchange, where traffic on westbound State Route 564 (Lake Mead Parkway) defaults onto I-215 west. From here, the beltway primarily follows the former Lake Mead Drive alignment west to the Pecos Road/Saint Rose Parkway (SR 146) interchange. The highway then curves northwest towards McCarran International Airport before intersecting Las Vegas Boulevard and I-15.

As the beltway passes under I-15, it changes from Interstate to county highway still maintaining freeway status as it heads due west. Passing Decatur Boulevard, two one-way frontage roads (which formerly carried the initial beltway facilities) appear on either side of the highway. At Durango Drive, the roadway curves northward. The frontage roads end at as the highway reaches Tropicana Avenue, but the freeway continues west and then north to intersect Charleston Boulevard (SR 159) near Red Rock Canyon.

The beltway downgrades from freeway to an expressway (with some grade separations) as it passes the Cheyenne Avenue interchange. From here, the road continues north along the western foothills of Las Vegas to pass behind Lone Mountain. Soon afterward, the highway curves east and intersects US 95 before entering northern North Las Vegas. Much of the final few miles of the route are in undeveloped land, with intersections existing primarily as turnarounds, until the beltway reaches its ending terminus at I-15 just south of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

History

AASHTO approved the I-215 designation for 18.9 miles (30.4 km) of (then unbuilt) highway, from Tropicana Avenue to US 95 (I-515) on April 17, 1993.^[3]

The southwest corner of CC 215 under construction, as seen from the air in early 2006. The two frontage roads initially carried mainline traffic until the freeway was completed later that year.

Much of the beltway was built completely with local funds, and expressway upgrades have continued to be built without state or federal money (except for the I-515 interchange upgrade). A tax measure voted on by the County residents increased funding for the beltway. As a result, it is expected to be fully upgraded to a freeway by 2013, rather than the previous goal of 2025.

The first section of I-215 opened to traffic in 1996 from I-15 to Warm Springs Road, including the airport tunnel, linking McCarran International Airport to South Las Vegas without using Tropicana Avenue or Russell Road to access the airport. The south end of the beltway was completed ahead of schedule in 1999, while the north end was extended from Decatur Boulevard in 1998 to Tropicana Avenue by 2000, with remaining sections of the beltway completed by 2002, either as a full freeway or frontage roads.

I-215 was built on the State Route 146 alignment between Exit 6 (Saint Rose Parkway/Pecos Road) and Mile 0 (the Interstate 515/U.S. Route 93/U.S. Route 95 interchange), formerly known as Lake Mead Drive. Since the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) does not co-sign state routes along Interstate highways, SR 146 was truncated to its current eastern terminus at I-215. SR 146 was co-signed with I-215 from Pecos Road to I-515/US 93/US 95, even though the state highway designation no longer existed in this section when the freeway was completed. Some SR 146 signs were still remaining on I-215 as of July 27, 2008.

In 2003, the entire 53-mile (85 km) long beltway was opened with the beltway consisting of three different road types: freeway, a limited access expressway, and as a frontage road with all three as sections of County highway 215. On August 9, 2006 a section of freeway was completed that allowed the connection of previously completed freeway sections that covered about half of the roads length from the SR 564 terminus to Charleston Boulevard.

Roads & Bridges magazine, a national publication that provides the latest technology news and information to the Transportation Construction industry, named the Las Vegas Beltway as one of the nation's Top Ten Road Projects in 2002.

At the Board of County Commission meeting on March 2, 2004, the road was renamed as the Bruce Woodbury Beltway.^[2] The Board approved a resolution recognizing Commissioner Woodbury for his many years and efforts in the future of transportation in the valley.

Future

Currently, construction of the North 5th Street Interchange is underway with completion anticipated by the end of the year 2011. The project scope includes roadway, bridge, drainage and utility improvements along the northern beltway at the intersection of North 5th Street in North Las Vegas. Project work is being done by Clark County Public Works. Going into 2012, construction will include the build-out of another northern beltway segment between Tenaya Way and Decatur Boulevard. The project, which should take about two years to complete, will widen CC 215 to four-lanes, build two new highway interchanges at Jones and Decatur boulevards and a new bridge to carry Bradley Road over the freeway. Improvements to the beltway are also underway in the southern region of the valley with the widening from I-15 to Windmill Lane. This project will provide one additional lane in each direction, auxilliary lanes and include the widening of four bridges over I-215 at Paradise, Warm Springs, and Robindale roads and the Airport Connector.^[4]

Exit list

The entire route is in Clark County.

Location	Mile	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Henderson	0	1	I-515 / US 93 / US 95 – Las Vegas, Boulder City Lake Mead Parkway (SR 564)	Interchange completed 2006; roadway continues as Lake Mead Parkway
		2	Gibson Road	Opened April 29, 2000[3]; interchange completed in 2006
		3A	Stephanie Street
		3B	Valle Verde Drive
		5	Green Valley Parkway
		6	SR 146 west (Saint Rose Parkway) / Pecos Road
		7	Eastern Avenue
		8	Windmill Lane
		9	Warm Springs Road
Enterprise		10	Sunset Road, McCarran Airport	Unsigned (SR 171); opened December 31, 1995[3]
		11	Las Vegas Boulevard	Eastbound exit splits from exit 12B
		12A	I-15 north – Las Vegas, Salt Lake City	To Las Vegas Strip, Downtown Las Vegas
		12B	I-15 south – Los Angeles
		Interstate 215 ends / Clark County Route 215 begins
		13	Decatur Boulevard
		14	Jones Boulevard	Opened November 11, 1999[5]
		15	Rainbow Boulevard	Opened November 11, 1999[5]
Spring Valley		16	Buffalo Drive	Opened 2006
		17	Durango Drive	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed Durango Drive/Sunset Road; opened 2006
		18	Sunset Road
		19	Russell Road	Opened 2006
		20	Tropicana Avenue	Opened 2006
		21	Flamingo Road
Summerlin South		23	Town Center Drive	Single-point urban interchange opened 2005
		25	Sahara Avenue	Opened 2001[5]
		26	SR 159 (Charleston Boulevard) – Red Rock Canyon	Opened 2001[5]
Las Vegas		27	Far Hills Avenue	Interchange constructed late 2009
		28	Summerlin Parkway	Interchange constructed late 2009
		29	Lake Mead Boulevard	Interchange (completed August 2008[6][7]; opened November 21, 2008[8])
		30	Cheyenne Avenue, Cliff Shadows Parkway	Interchange (opened October 30, 2007[9])
		End freeway & begin expressway
			Lone Mountain Road
Lone Mountain			Ann Road
		35	Hualapai Way	Interchange
		37	Durango Drive	Interchange
Las Vegas			US 95 – Las Vegas, Reno	Interchange
			Jones Boulevard
			Bradley Road	Temporary intersection
			Decatur Boulevard
North Las Vegas		43	Aliante Parkway	Interchange opened 2008
			Revere Street	Future interchange[10][11]
		46	North 5th Street	Eastbound ramps opened 2009 and full interchange completed in September 2011
			Losee Road
			Pecos Road
			Lamb Boulevard
			Range Road
			I-15 / US 93 – Las Vegas, Ely, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City	Interchange
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

References

1. ^ Roadway Systems Division (January 2008). "Nevada State Maintained Highways: Descriptions, Index and Maps". Nevada Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on January 24, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080124124655/http://www.nevadadot.com/reports_pubs/State_Maintained/. Retrieved July 3, 2008. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Department of Public Works. "Bruce Woodbury Beltway". Clark County. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20081007185949/http://www.accessclarkcounty.com/depts/public_works/Pages/beltway.aspx. Retrieved July 3, 2008. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "I-215 Nevada". 3-Digit Interstates. kurumi.com. http://www.kurumi.com/roads/3di/ix15.html#215nv. Retrieved July 24, 2007. 
4. ^ Staff. "Design Engineering: 215 Beltway". Clark County. http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/Depts/public_works/design_eng/Pages/215Beltway.aspx. Retrieved November 16, 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d} "Las Vegas Beltway". Western Roads. AARoads. http://www.rockymountainroads.com/i-215_nv.html. Retrieved July 24, 2007. 
6. ^ McCabe, Francis (July 16, 2008). "Road Warrior Q&A: Interchange opening moved up to 2010". Las Vegas Review-Journal (Stephens Media, LLC). http://www.lvrj.com/news/25498889.html. Retrieved August 14, 2008. 
7. ^ "An interchange collecting dust" (Editorial). Las Vegas Review-Journal (Stephens Media, LLC). August 3, 2008. http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/26219014.html. Retrieved August 14, 2008. 
8. ^ "Lake Mead-Beltway interchange opens". Las Vegas Review-Journal (Stephens Media, LLC). 2008-11-21. http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/34887449.html. Retrieved 2008-11-21. 
9. ^ 8 News Now at 5. Las Vegas, NV: KLAS-TV. October 30, 2007. 
10. ^ Department of Public Works. "Beltway construction continues" (PDF). Clark County. Archived from the original on October 31, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071031011719/http://www.accessclarkcounty.net/Pubworks/county_projects/beltway/06_bulletin.pdf. Retrieved July 28, 2007. 
11. ^ McCabe, Francis (2009-03-25). "Road Warrior: Fifth Street bridging Beltway". Las Vegas Review-Journal (Stephens Media, LLC). http://www.lvrj.com/news/41816702.html. Retrieved 2009-04-08. 

External links

• Bruce Woodbury Beltway page at Clark County website