Misplaced Pages

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88-582: Interstate 15 ( I-15 ) is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Nevada that begins in Primm , continues through Las Vegas and it crosses the border with Arizona in Mesquite . Within the state, the freeway runs entirely in Clark County . The highway was built along the corridor of the older U.S. Route 91 (US 91) and Arrowhead Trail , eventually replacing both of these roads. The entire route of I-15

176-522: A concurrency or overlap. For example, I‑75 and I‑85 share the same roadway in Atlanta ; this 7.4-mile (11.9 km) section, called the Downtown Connector , is labeled both I‑75 and I‑85. Concurrencies between Interstate and US Highway numbers are also allowed in accordance with AASHTO policy, as long as the length of the concurrency is reasonable. In rare instances, two highway designations sharing

264-637: A 28-year-old brevet lieutenant colonel, accompanied the trip "through darkest America with truck and tank," as he later described it. Some roads in the West were a "succession of dust, ruts, pits, and holes." As the landmark 1916 law expired, new legislation was passed—the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 (Phipps Act). This new road construction initiative once again provided for federal matching funds for road construction and improvement, $ 75 million allocated annually. Moreover, this new legislation for

352-476: A change in the numbering system as a result of a new policy adopted in 1973. Previously, letter-suffixed numbers were used for long spurs off primary routes; for example, western I‑84 was I‑80N, as it went north from I‑80 . The new policy stated, "No new divided numbers (such as I-35W and I-35E , etc.) shall be adopted." The new policy also recommended that existing divided numbers be eliminated as quickly as possible; however, an I-35W and I-35E still exist in

440-542: A city street for locals and tourists. Its current name, in effect since 1959, reflects its importance to the Valley rather than past names when it served as a main intra-city road. On October 16, 2009, the Federal Highway Administration announced the designation of a new National Scenic Byway on the boulevard. The 3.5-mile (5.6 km) section starting at Sahara Avenue and running north to Washington Avenue

528-576: A numbering scheme in which primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, and shorter routes which branch off of longer ones are assigned three-digit numbers where the last two digits match the parent route. The Interstate Highway System is partially financed through the Highway Trust Fund , which itself is funded by a combination of a federal fuel tax and transfers from the Treasury's general fund. Though federal legislation initially banned

616-481: A proposal for an interstate highway system, eventually resulting in the enactment of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 . Unlike the earlier United States Numbered Highway System, the interstates were designed to be all freeways, with nationally unified standards for construction and signage. While some older freeways were adopted into the system, most of the routes were completely new. In dense urban areas,

704-540: A report called Toll Roads and Free Roads , "the first formal description of what became the Interstate Highway System" and, in 1944, the similarly themed Interregional Highways . The Interstate Highway System gained a champion in President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was influenced by his experiences as a young Army officer crossing the country in the 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy that drove in part on

792-409: A single digit prefixed to the two-digit number of its parent Interstate Highway. Spur routes deviate from their parent and do not return; these are given an odd first digit. Circumferential and radial loop routes return to the parent, and are given an even first digit. Unlike primary Interstates, three-digit Interstates are signed as either east–west or north–south, depending on the general orientation of

880-769: A speed limit of 45 mph (70 km/h) because it is a parkway that consists of only one lane per side of the highway. On the other hand, Interstates 15, 80, 84, and 215 in Utah have speed limits as high as 70 mph (115 km/h) within the Wasatch Front , Cedar City , and St. George areas, and I-25 in New Mexico within the Santa Fe and Las Vegas areas along with I-20 in Texas along Odessa and Midland and I-29 in North Dakota along

968-456: A speed limit of 80 mph (130 km/h). Other Interstates in Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming also have the same high speed limits. In some areas, speed limits on Interstates can be significantly lower in areas where they traverse significantly hazardous areas. The maximum speed limit on I-90 is 50 mph (80 km/h) in downtown Cleveland because of two sharp curves with

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1056-467: A suggested limit of 35 mph (55 km/h) in a heavily congested area; I-70 through Wheeling, West Virginia , has a maximum speed limit of 45 mph (70 km/h) through the Wheeling Tunnel and most of downtown Wheeling; and I-68 has a maximum speed limit of 40 mph (65 km/h) through Cumberland, Maryland , because of multiple hazards including sharp curves and narrow lanes through

1144-534: Is also commonly believed the Interstate Highway System was built for the sole purpose of evacuating cities in the event of nuclear warfare . While military motivations were present, the primary motivations were civilian. The numbering scheme for the Interstate Highway System was developed in 1957 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The association's present numbering policy dates back to August 10, 1973. Within

1232-790: Is designated as an All-American Road . Just past the end of "The Strip", the road passes the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign (located in the median) as it abuts the western edge of the Harry Reid International Airport property. The sign is often considered the south end of the Strip. "South Strip" is now used to describe the section of Las Vegas Boulevard between Russell Road and Blue Diamond Road. Along this stretch, development thins out, except for newer shopping malls , hotels , resorts , casinos and condominiums (such as South Point Hotel & Casino and The Grandview at Las Vegas ) as

1320-742: Is designated the Las Vegas Freeway . Motorists in California begin a long descent through Ivanpah Valley and Ivanpah Dry Lake . I-15 crosses the Nevada state line at the first exit, Primm . Once I-15 leaves Primm, the route travels north through the desert with few services. The highway then enters the Las Vegas urban area upon passing the State Route ;146 (SR 146, Saint Rose Parkway) interchange. From Silverado Ranch Boulevard to US 95 ,

1408-791: Is in Clark County . Interstate Highway [REDACTED] The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways , commonly known as the Interstate Highway System , or the Eisenhower Interstate System , is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States . The system extends throughout the contiguous United States and has routes in Hawaii , Alaska , and Puerto Rico . In

1496-525: Is to have the highway route extend from Tamaulipas , Mexico to Ontario , Canada. The planned I-11 will then bridge the Interstate gap between Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada , and thus form part of the CANAMEX Corridor (along with I-19 , and portions of I-10 and I-15 ) between Sonora , Mexico and Alberta , Canada. Political opposition from residents canceled many freeway projects around

1584-837: The Big Stan drill rig. Due to heavy traffic, there are plans by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and NDOT to widen I-15 in both directions from both US 395 in Hesperia and I-40 in Barstow to I-215 in Enterprise . In 2020, Brightline signed a 50-year lease for use of the I-15 right-of-way between Victor Valley and the Las Vegas Valley for use in their Brightline West high-speed rail service. The entire route

1672-733: The Clark County ;215 beltway. Once I-15 leaves North Las Vegas, the freeway travels northeast and crosses the Muddy River at Glendale and then climbs up onto the Mormon Mesa . At Mesquite , the freeway then crosses the Arizona state line and cuts through the extreme northwestern corner of Arizona through the Virgin River Gorge before entering Utah . The general location of the I-15 corridor through Nevada can be traced as far back as

1760-474: The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Texas, and an I-35W and I-35E that run through Minneapolis and Saint Paul , Minnesota, still exist. Additionally, due to Congressional requirements, three sections of I-69 in southern Texas will be divided into I-69W , I-69E , and I-69C (for Central). AASHTO policy allows dual numbering to provide continuity between major control points. This is referred to as

1848-562: The Downtown Las Vegas Boulevard Scenic Byway by the state. This designation continues south to Sahara Avenue. Further south is a stretch of road that has many of the older motels , bars and wedding chapels that were among the high points of the old Vegas before the era of the megaresorts . The Boulevard leaves the city of Las Vegas at Sahara Avenue and assumes its unofficial name the Las Vegas Strip for

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1936-538: The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 into law. Under the act, the federal government would pay for 90 percent of the cost of construction of Interstate Highways. Each Interstate Highway was required to be a freeway with at least four lanes and no at-grade crossings. The publication in 1955 of the General Location of National System of Interstate Highways , informally known as the Yellow Book , mapped out what became

2024-538: The Grand Forks area have higher speed limits of 75 mph (120 km/h). As one of the components of the National Highway System , Interstate Highways improve the mobility of military troops to and from airports, seaports, rail terminals, and other military bases. Interstate Highways also connect to other roads that are a part of the Strategic Highway Network , a system of roads identified as critical to

2112-515: The Lincoln Highway , the first road across America. He recalled that, "The old convoy had started me thinking about good two-lane highways... the wisdom of broader ribbons across our land." Eisenhower also gained an appreciation of the Reichsautobahn system, the first "national" implementation of modern Germany's Autobahn network, as a necessary component of a national defense system while he

2200-499: The US Department of Defense . The system has also been used to facilitate evacuations in the face of hurricanes and other natural disasters. An option for maximizing traffic throughput on a highway is to reverse the flow of traffic on one side of a divider so that all lanes become outbound lanes. This procedure, known as contraflow lane reversal , has been employed several times for hurricane evacuations. After public outcry regarding

2288-464: The US Highways , which increase from east to west and north to south). This numbering system usually holds true even if the local direction of the route does not match the compass directions. Numbers divisible by five are intended to be major arteries among the primary routes, carrying traffic long distances. Primary north–south Interstates increase in number from I-5 between Canada and Mexico along

2376-581: The Union Pacific Railroad line in Apex . Traveling south, the road meets Nellis Air Force Base on the east side and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the west side. As the road enters the city of North Las Vegas , it passes through some of the older commercial areas in the region. As the road approaches the city of Las Vegas proper, some of what historical Las Vegas became visible, as some of

2464-541: The West Coast to I‑95 between Canada and Miami, Florida along the East Coast . Major west–east arterial Interstates increase in number from I-10 between Santa Monica, California , and Jacksonville, Florida , to I-90 between Seattle, Washington , and Boston, Massachusetts , with two exceptions. There are no I-50 and I-60, as routes with those numbers would likely pass through states that currently have US Highways with

2552-855: The 20th century, the United States Congress began funding roadways through the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , and started an effort to construct a national road grid with the passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 . In 1926, the United States Numbered Highway System was established, creating the first national road numbering system for cross-country travel. The roads were state-funded and maintained, and there were few national standards for road design. United States Numbered Highways ranged from two-lane country roads to multi-lane freeways. After Dwight D. Eisenhower became president in 1953, his administration developed

2640-569: The Arizona state line. Both of these sections were completed in 1974. The US 91 designation, which had remained on its original alignment during the construction of the Interstate, was made redundant by the new freeway and was removed in 1974. Between Las Vegas and the California state line, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) added call boxes at one-mile (1.6 km) intervals in

2728-482: The Boulevard continues to travel south, just to the east of Interstate 15 . After passing the M Resort , the Boulevard enters rural desert areas. It continues to parallel Interstate 15 and eventually arrives at Jean . South of Jean, the road ceases to be a major artery for a stretch of several miles before resuming just north of Primm , where it runs alongside two of the resort's hotels and shopping mall; just short of

Interstate 15 in Nevada - Misplaced Pages Continue

2816-555: The California state line. Nevada's 1927 official highway map reflects the routing of the final 1926 plan; however, a few maps from the era indicate the original proposal. US 91 / SR 6 began at Primm and followed the Los Angeles Highway toward Las Vegas. Within the city limits, it ran along Fifth Street (now Las Vegas Boulevard ) through downtown and into North Las Vegas, where it departed from 5th at Main Street. Exiting

2904-559: The Congress Hotel in Chicago. In the plan, Mehren proposed a 50,000-mile (80,000 km) system, consisting of five east–west routes and 10 north–south routes. The system would include two percent of all roads and would pass through every state at a cost of $ 25,000 per mile ($ 16,000/km), providing commercial as well as military transport benefits. In 1919, the US Army sent an expedition across

2992-506: The Interstate Highway System. Assisting in the planning was Charles Erwin Wilson , who was still head of General Motors when President Eisenhower selected him as Secretary of Defense in January 1953. Some sections of highways that became part of the Interstate Highway System actually began construction earlier. Three states have claimed the title of first Interstate Highway. Missouri claims that

3080-485: The Interstate Highway program. The Interstates of Alaska and Puerto Rico are numbered sequentially in order of funding without regard to the rules on odd and even numbers. They also carry the prefixes A and PR , respectively. However, these highways are signed according to their local designations, not their Interstate Highway numbers. Furthermore, these routes were neither planned according to nor constructed to

3168-514: The Las Vegas Strip) and State Route 6 (entire segment, unsigned ). South of the city, Las Vegas Boulevard was commonly known as the Los Angeles Highway . Just north of Jean is the place where the last spike on the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad line was driven. With the construction of I-15, Las Vegas Boulevard went from being the main through road to one that only served as

3256-469: The Las Vegas area to the northeast, US 91 became the Salt Lake Highway and then headed toward Apex and Glendale . The highway then curved east-northeast before following present-day SR 170 through Riverside and Bunkerville into Mesquite. US 91 was routed through that city on Mesquite Boulevard, Sandhill Boulevard and Fairview Avenue before crossing the Arizona state line. By 1929,

3344-638: The Nevada/California state line, the road changes its name to Lotto Store Road and becomes a local road. RTC Transit Route(s) 113 (and the MAX, before February 2016, when it was decommissioned) serves the road from Downtown Las Vegas north to Nellis Air Force Base, The Deuce serves the Road from Downtown Las Vegas south to Warm Springs and then to the South Strip Transfer Terminal (SSTT)). Route 117 serves

3432-820: The US to determine the difficulties that military vehicles would have on a cross-country trip. Leaving from the Ellipse near the White House on July 7, the Motor Transport Corps convoy needed 62 days to drive 3,200 miles (5,100 km) on the Lincoln Highway to the Presidio of San Francisco along the Golden Gate . The convoy suffered many setbacks and problems on the route, such as poor-quality bridges, broken crankshafts, and engines clogged with desert sand. Dwight Eisenhower , then

3520-704: The US ;91 corridor. The first section of the newly designated I-15 opened by 1960. This stretch extended from the California state line to just north of Sloan . In 1963, the new freeway reached the south end of the Las Vegas Valley at Blue Diamond Road, and more than 20 miles (32 km) south of Glendale was also finished. By 1967, I-15 had been constructed along the entire length of US 91 except through parts of Las Vegas and near Mesquite. The final sections of I-15 to be completed were in North Las Vegas and near

3608-687: The United States, including: In addition to cancellations, removals of freeways are planned: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has defined a set of standards that all new Interstates must meet unless a waiver from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is obtained. One almost absolute standard is the controlled access nature of the roads. With few exceptions , traffic lights (and cross traffic in general) are limited to toll booths and ramp meters (metered flow control for lane merging during rush hour ). Being freeways , Interstate Highways usually have

Interstate 15 in Nevada - Misplaced Pages Continue

3696-473: The act was signed, and paving started September 26, 1956. The state marked its portion of I-70 as the first project in the United States completed under the provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The Pennsylvania Turnpike could also be considered one of the first Interstate Highways, and is nicknamed "Grandfather of the Interstate System". On October 1, 1940, 162 miles (261 km) of

3784-410: The alignment of US 91 / SR 6 was graded throughout much of the state, a distance of 129.5 miles (208.4 km). The route eventually gained two other highway overlaps. US 466 was christened in 1934, and was routed concurrently along US 91 from California to downtown Las Vegas before heading southeast to Hoover Dam (the route was deleted in 1971). Also, in 1936, US 93

3872-648: The cancellation of the Somerset Freeway . This situation was remedied when the construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project started in 2010 and partially opened on September 22, 2018, which was already enough to fill the gap. However, I-70 remains discontinuous in Pennsylvania , because of the lack of a direct interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike at

3960-406: The choice of routing destroyed many well-established neighborhoods, often intentionally as part of a program of " urban renewal ". In the two decades following the 1956 Highway Act, the construction of the freeways displaced one million people, and as a result of the many freeway revolts during this era, several planned Interstates were abandoned or re-routed to avoid urban cores. Construction of

4048-538: The city. In some locations, low speed limits are the result of lawsuits and resident demands; after holding up the completion of I-35E in St. Paul, Minnesota , for nearly 30 years in the courts, residents along the stretch of the freeway from the southern city limit to downtown successfully lobbied for a 45 mph (70 km/h) speed limit in addition to a prohibition on any vehicle weighing more than 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg) gross vehicle weight . I-93 in Franconia Notch State Park in northern New Hampshire has

4136-401: The collection of tolls, some Interstate routes are toll roads , either because they were grandfathered into the system or because subsequent legislation has allowed for tolling of Interstates in some cases. As of 2022 , about one quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country used the Interstate Highway System, which has a total length of 48,890 miles (78,680 km). In 2022 and 2023,

4224-431: The construction and improvement of highways. The nation's revenue needs associated with World War I prevented any significant implementation of this policy, which expired in 1921. In December 1918, E. J. Mehren, a civil engineer and the editor of Engineering News-Record , presented his "A Suggested National Highway Policy and Plan" during a gathering of the State Highway Officials and Highway Industries Association at

4312-407: The contiguous United States, primary Interstates—also called main line Interstates or two-digit Interstates—are assigned numbers less than 100. While numerous exceptions do exist, there is a general scheme for numbering Interstates. Primary Interstates are assigned one- or two-digit numbers, while shorter routes (such as spurs, loops, and short connecting roads) are assigned three-digit numbers where

4400-567: The discontinuity, but they have been blocked by local opposition, fearing a loss of business. The Interstate Highway System has been expanded numerous times. The expansions have both created new designations and extended existing designations. For example, I-49 , added to the system in the 1980s as a freeway in Louisiana , was designated as an expansion corridor, and FHWA approved the expanded route north from Lafayette, Louisiana , to Kansas City, Missouri . The freeway exists today as separate completed segments, with segments under construction or in

4488-448: The dissemination of public information. As a result, the 2005 evacuation of New Orleans, Louisiana, prior to Hurricane Katrina ran much more smoothly. According to urban legend , early regulations required that one out of every five miles of the Interstate Highway System must be built straight and flat, so as to be usable by aircraft during times of war. There is no evidence of this rule being included in any Interstate legislation. It

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4576-462: The early 1900s. Regular automobile travel through southern Nevada was established by 1914 along the Arrowhead Trail , a road connecting Los Angeles and Salt Lake City . In 1919, the Nevada Legislature amended its newly adopted highway law to add SR 6, which was described as "Commencing at the Arizona line near Mesquite and running southwesterly over what is now known as the Arrow Head [sic] trail through Las Vegas to Jean, Nevada." Two years later,

4664-445: The eastern end of the concurrency near Breezewood . Traveling in either direction, I-70 traffic must exit the freeway and use a short stretch of US 30 (which includes a number of roadside services) to rejoin I-70. The interchange was not originally built because of a legacy federal funding rule, since relaxed, which restricted the use of federal funds to improve roads financed with tolls. Solutions have been proposed to eliminate

4752-450: The economy. Not just as a public works measure, but for future growth. Clay's committee proposed a 10-year, $ 100 billion program ($ 1.13 trillion in 2023), which would build 40,000 miles (64,000 km) of divided highways linking all American cities with a population of greater than 50,000. Eisenhower initially preferred a system consisting of toll roads , but Clay convinced Eisenhower that toll roads were not feasible outside of

4840-400: The existing section at Primm to the northern section at Jean. Las Vegas Boulevard serves as the Valley's east/west address demarcation boundary line south of the Strat onwards. The road's own north/south street address demarcation boundary is located at its intersection with Fremont Street. Unlike most other cases, where using the more traditional nomenclature of putting the direction before

4928-439: The existing, largely non-freeway, United States Numbered Highways system. By the late 1930s, planning had expanded to a system of new superhighways. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave Thomas MacDonald , chief at the Bureau of Public Roads, a hand-drawn map of the United States marked with eight superhighway corridors for study. In 1939, Bureau of Public Roads Division of Information chief Herbert S. Fairbank wrote

5016-426: The federal government, Interstate Highways are owned by the state in which they were built. With few exceptions , all Interstates must meet specific standards , such as having controlled access, physical barriers or median strips between lanes of oncoming traffic, breakdown lanes , avoiding at-grade intersections , no traffic lights , and complying with federal traffic sign specifications. Interstate Highways use

5104-411: The first three contracts under the new program were signed in Missouri on August 2, 1956. The first contract signed was for upgrading a section of US Route 66 to what is now designated Interstate 44 . On August 13, 1956, work began on US 40 (now I-70) in St. Charles County. Kansas claims that it was the first to start paving after the act was signed. Preliminary construction had taken place before

5192-429: The first time sought to target these funds to the construction of a national road grid of interconnected "primary highways", setting up cooperation among the various state highway planning boards. The Bureau of Public Roads asked the Army to provide a list of roads that it considered necessary for national defense. In 1922, General John J. Pershing , former head of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during

5280-428: The freeway has HOV lanes that are currently enforced by both Metro and NHP , 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and is the only state within the nation to do so. The Interstate meets I-215 at the Southern Beltway Interchange, which provides access to Henderson and Harry Reid International Airport . Originally, this interchange was termed Son of Spaghetti Bowl by the Las Vegas Review-Journal when it

5368-429: The highest speed limits in a given area. Speed limits are determined by individual states. From 1975 to 1986, the maximum speed limit on any highway in the United States was 55 miles per hour (90 km/h), in accordance with federal law. Typically, lower limits are established in Northeastern and coastal states, while higher speed limits are established in inland states west of the Mississippi River . For example,

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5456-435: The highly populated coastal regions. In February 1955, Eisenhower forwarded Clay's proposal to Congress. The bill quickly won approval in the Senate, but House Democrats objected to the use of public bonds as the means to finance construction. Eisenhower and the House Democrats agreed to instead finance the system through the Highway Trust Fund , which itself would be funded by a gasoline tax. In June 1956, Eisenhower signed

5544-506: The highway now designated I‑70 and I‑76 opened between Irwin and Carlisle . The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania refers to the turnpike as the Granddaddy of the Pikes, a reference to turnpikes . Milestones in the construction of the Interstate Highway System include: The initial cost estimate for the system was $ 25 billion over 12 years; it ended up costing $ 114 billion (equivalent to $ 425 billion in 2006 or $ 618 billion in 2023 ) and took 35 years. The system

5632-402: The inefficiency of evacuating from southern Louisiana prior to Hurricane Georges ' landfall in September 1998, government officials looked towards contraflow to improve evacuation times. In Savannah, Georgia , and Charleston, South Carolina , in 1999, lanes of I-16 and I-26 were used in a contraflow configuration in anticipation of Hurricane Floyd with mixed results. In 2004, contraflow

5720-431: The last two digits match the parent route (thus, I-294 is a loop that connects at both ends to I-94 , while I-787 is a short spur route attached to I-87 ). In the numbering scheme for the primary routes, east–west highways are assigned even numbers and north–south highways are assigned odd numbers. Odd route numbers increase from west to east, and even-numbered routes increase from south to north (to avoid confusion with

5808-453: The length of the Las Vegas metropolitan area in Clark County. "The Boulevard", as it is sometimes called by longtime Las Vegas residents, starts at about 3.75-mile (6.04 km) southwest of the ghost town of Crystal , and continues south to about 2 mi (3.2 km) south of Jean , in the Mojave Desert . The Boulevard shows up again in Primm , but is currently not connected to the northern sections. There are tentative plans to connect

5896-401: The mainline. Some auxiliary highways do not follow these guidelines, however. The Interstate Highway System also extends to Alaska , Hawaii , and Puerto Rico , even though they have no direct land connections to any other states or territories. However, their residents still pay federal fuel and tire taxes. The Interstates in Hawaii, all located on the most populous island of Oahu , carry

5984-581: The maximum speed limit is 75 mph (120 km/h) in northern Maine, varies between 50 and 70 mph (80 and 115 km/h) from southern Maine to New Jersey, and is 50 mph (80 km/h) in New York City and the District of Columbia. Currently, rural speed limits elsewhere generally range from 65 to 80 miles per hour (105 to 130 km/h). Several portions of various highways such as I-10 and I-20 in rural western Texas, I-80 in Nevada between Fernley and Winnemucca (except around Lovelock) and portions of I-15 , I-70 , I-80 , and I-84 in Utah have

6072-408: The mid-2000s, for motorists with vehicle problems and without cell phone service. This was done as part of a larger project that expanded this portion of the freeway to three travel lanes in each direction to coordinate with a similar effort in California. In August 2011, I-15 in southern Las Vegas was substantially expanded. This involved adding between 30 and 85% more capacity and involved the use of

6160-468: The next 4 miles (6.4 km). This portion of Las Vegas Boulevard begins a few blocks to the north at the Stratosphere (the only major Strip hotel/casino sited within the Las Vegas city limits) and runs through Winchester and Paradise , with the Strip technically ending at Russell Road . This is the section of the road most people are familiar with; it is home to casino megaresorts with their world-famous lights, huge video signs, and other attractions. It

6248-404: The number of fatalities on the Interstate Highway System amounted to more than 5,000 people annually, with nearly 5,600 fatalities in 2022. The United States government's efforts to construct a national network of highways began on an ad hoc basis with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 , which provided $ 75 million over a five-year period for matching funds to the states for

6336-433: The official Interstate Highway standards . On one- or two-digit Interstates, the mile marker numbering almost always begins at the southern or western state line. If an Interstate originates within a state, the numbering begins from the location where the road begins in the south or west. As with all guidelines for Interstate routes, however, numerous exceptions exist. Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas Boulevard runs

6424-618: The older casinos appear along with some of the more famous and long-operating strip clubs . Upon entering the city limits of Las Vegas, the Boulevard showcases the area's past with many museums , including the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park , the Neon Museum , and the Fremont Street Experience and downtown casino sector. On crossing Washington Avenue, the Boulevard is designated as

6512-561: The original Interstate Highway System was proclaimed complete in 1992, despite deviations from the original 1956 plan and several stretches that did not fully conform with federal standards . The construction of the Interstate Highway System cost approximately $ 114 billion (equivalent to $ 618 billion in 2023). The system has continued to expand and grow as additional federal funding has provided for new routes to be added, and many future Interstate Highways are currently either being planned or under construction. Though heavily funded by

6600-633: The planning phase between them. In 1966, the FHWA designated the entire Interstate Highway System as part of the larger Pan-American Highway System, and at least two proposed Interstate expansions were initiated to help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Long-term plans for I-69 , which currently exists in several separate completed segments (the largest of which are in Indiana and Texas ),

6688-411: The prefix H . There are three one-digit routes in the state ( H-1 , H-2 , and H-3 ) and one auxiliary route ( H-201 ). These Interstates connect several military and naval bases together, as well as the important communities spread across Oahu, and especially within the urban core of Honolulu . Both Alaska and Puerto Rico also have public highways that receive 90 percent of their funding from

6776-617: The road name is common practice, The Boulevard is an exception, as it is rarely referred to as "North Las Vegas Boulevard" and "South Las Vegas Boulevard". The road instead is usually referred to as "Las Vegas Boulevard North" (abbreviated LVBN) and "Las Vegas Boulevard South" (stylized LVBS), by both residents and various media outlets. At its northern end, the Boulevard starts at the south end of Moapa Paulite Solar Road. Running north of, but roughly parallel with I-15, it heads southwest toward Las Vegas, passing through an industrial complex of manufacturing plants and power plants running along

6864-773: The road south from the SSTT past the Las Vegas Premium Outlet South store, the South Point Casino and Silverado Ranch Blvd. Las Vegas Boulevard has had several names, including 5th Street (from Sahara to Owens, within the Las Vegas city limits), Main Street (in North Las Vegas), the Arrowhead Highway , Los Angeles Highway, Salt Lake Highway, US 91 (entire segment), US 93 (from Fremont Street north), US 466 (from Jean to Fremont Street, including

6952-520: The route was revised to pass through Las Vegas and head "via Jean or Goodsprings to a junction with the California state highway system." US 91 was later proposed as part of the original 1925 U.S. Highway System plan. As originally proposed, US 91 would have followed SR 6 southwest from Mesquite to downtown Las Vegas, where it would then turn southeast along SR 5 to California via Searchlight . The revised 1926 plan had proposed US 91 follow SR 6 through Las Vegas and Jean to

7040-524: The route, without regard to the route number. For instance, I-190 in Massachusetts is labeled north–south, while I-195 in New Jersey is labeled east–west. Some looped Interstate routes use inner–outer directions instead of compass directions, when the use of compass directions would create ambiguity. Due to the large number of these routes, auxiliary route numbers may be repeated in different states along

7128-419: The same numbers, which is generally disallowed under highway administration guidelines. Several two-digit numbers are shared between unconnected road segments at opposite ends of the country for various reasons. Some such highways are incomplete Interstates (such as I-69 and I-74 ) and some just happen to share route designations (such as I-76 , I-84 , I‑86 , I-87 , and I-88 ). Some of these were due to

7216-503: The same roadway are signed as traveling in opposite directions; one such wrong-way concurrency is found between Wytheville and Fort Chiswell , Virginia, where I‑81 north and I‑77 south are equivalent (with that section of road traveling almost due east), as are I‑81 south and I‑77 north. Auxiliary Interstate Highways are circumferential, radial, or spur highways that principally serve urban areas . These types of Interstate Highways are given three-digit route numbers, which consist of

7304-490: The war, complied by submitting a detailed network of 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of interconnected primary highways—the so-called Pershing Map . A boom in road construction followed throughout the decade of the 1920s, with such projects as the New York parkway system constructed as part of a new national highway system. As automobile traffic increased, planners saw a need for such an interconnected national system to supplement

7392-403: Was built. I-15 travels along the west side of the Las Vegas Strip corridor and just west of downtown Las Vegas just before its junction with I-11 and US 95 (the " Spaghetti Bowl " interchange). Then, the Interstate enters North Las Vegas and continues to run roughly parallel to Las Vegas Boulevard (old US 91) as it leaves the Las Vegas urban limits near the northern junction with

7480-541: Was employed ahead of Hurricane Charley in the Tampa, Florida area and on the Gulf Coast before the landfall of Hurricane Ivan ; however, evacuation times there were no better than previous evacuation operations. Engineers began to apply lessons learned from the analysis of prior contraflow operations, including limiting exits, removing troopers (to keep traffic flowing instead of having drivers stop for directions), and improving

7568-433: Was extended from its 1932 southern terminus at Glendale, over US 91 to downtown Las Vegas on its way to Hoover Dam. A new alignment of US 91 was completed in 1955. This bypassed both Bunkerville and Mesquite to the northwest, along what would become the future path of I-15. The original alignment through Bunkerville is now SR 170. The passage of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 quickly brought upgrades to

7656-422: Was proclaimed complete in 1992, but two of the original Interstates— I-95 and I-70 —were not continuous: both of these discontinuities were due to local opposition, which blocked efforts to build the necessary connections to fully complete the system. I-95 was made a continuous freeway in 2018, and thus I-70 remains the only original Interstate with a discontinuity. I-95 was discontinuous in New Jersey because of

7744-543: Was serving as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II . In 1954, Eisenhower appointed General Lucius D. Clay to head a committee charged with proposing an interstate highway system plan. Summing up motivations for the construction of such a system, Clay stated, It was evident we needed better highways. We needed them for safety, to accommodate more automobiles. We needed them for defense purposes, if that should ever be necessary. And we needed them for

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