Las Vegas Beltway work begins as portion of US 95 project nears end

It's been a long road for construction projects in Centennial Hills.

Here is a progress report of how the detours and traffic cones lead to the light at the end of the tunnel:

Widening of U.S. Highway 95

The goal of the Nevada Department of Transportation's five-phase U.S. Highway 95 widening project, whose phases are not being completed in sequential order, is to improve safety and increase capacity for a growing part of the valley, said project manager Nick Johnson .

"The construction you're seeing now is Phase 1," he said.

Capriati Construction Corp. is about 60 percent finished with Phase 1 to widen U.S. Highway 95 from Washington Avenue to Ann Road , Johnson said. The $69 million project started in July 2010 and could be completed as soon as July .

"We're anticipating for substantial completion in July or August of this year," Johnson said.

He added that the project is on schedule and on budget.

Work was completed on Phase 4 , the Horse Drive interchange , in May 2011 . The $42 million interchange took about 18 months for construction and included two bridges , extended roads , new signals and a flood control component .

Three projects' start dates are pending funding, Johnson said. The projects are:

n Phase 2 to widen U.S. 95 from Ann to Kyle Canyon roads is slated to cost about $80 million to $90 million.

n Phase 3 to provide a new interchange where U.S. 95 and the Las Vegas Beltway meet could cost between $230 million and $260 million.

n Phase 5 to provide an interchange at Kyle Canyon Road is "years in the future," Johnson said. Its price tag is about $45 million .

The cost of the overall widening project is $450 million to $500 million.

For more details, including up-to-date information about lane changes and closures, visit tinyurl.com/4h63zj9.

County Route 215 Bruce Woodbury Beltway project

The periodic lane closures, detours and traffic on the Las Vegas Beltway in Centennial Hills are just beginning, Clark County officials warn.

The $117 million Clark County Route 215 Bruce Woodbury Beltway project started in late 2011 and is slated to conclude in 2014 . The project is to include drainage and payment improvements, new interchanges at Jones and Decatur boulevards and a new bridge at Bradley Road.

Crews are currently moving dirt, about 2 million cubic yards of it, to a site in North Las Vegas, department assistant manager Michael Mamer said.

The Clark County Public Works Department has fielded complaints about the dust. Mamer said the county Department of Air Quality and Environmental Management visits the construction site daily and measures air quality.

The contractor, Las Vegas Paving , also is complying to ease the dust problem, supervising construction management inspector Blair Lecker said.

The company has multiple sweepers and trucks to wet the route, and crews tarp the dirt on the way to North Las Vegas, Lecker said.

"They are tarping empty trucks on the way back, which isn't required of them, to cut down on the material that pulls out of open beds," Lecker said.

The dirt is slated to be hauled through summer, Lecker said.

For more information, visit tinyurl.com/6wpkmbo or call 455-6100 .

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@viewnews.com or 477-3839.