Project Neon bond sale reduced
State will raise $140M for I-15 widening work
A third and final round of state bonds will be sold to help pay for Project Neon, the $1 billion widening of Interstate 15 between Sahara Avenue and the Spaghetti Bowl interchange in downtown Las Vegas.
The Nevada Department of Transportation’s board of directors on Monday unanimously agreed to sell up to $140 million in bonds that will be repaid over 20 years at a 3.74 percent interest rate.
The transportation board agreed in 2014 to finance Project Neon with three separate rounds of bond sales. The first sale in 2016 garnered $200 million and was followed by a $185 million issuance last year.
NDOT officials had originally expected to issue $180 million in bonds for the final round, but Robert Nellis, the agency’s assistant director for administration, said the figure was reduced when it received more state and federal money than anticipated.
“We’re seeing all these numbers onthepage,butattheendofthe day what it means is we’re using money more efficiently and we can build more projects faster,” said
Gov. Brian Sandoval, who serves as chairman of the transportation board.
“I think it’s pretty remarkable, as much that’s been done, that we’ve come to this last phase and we’re able to cut the bond by $40 million,” Sandoval said. “And the project is on time and on budget.”
The latest round of long-term closures associated with Project Neon, known as the “Main Event,” kicked off last week with a significant slimming of traffic lanes along I-15.
During the weekend, U.S. Highway 95 was closed to through traffic between Martin Luther King and Las Vegas boulevards so that crews could demolish some freeway bridges along southbound I-15.
Rather than toss the rubble into a landfill, NDOT spokesman Tony Illia said, the debris will be recycled and used as fill-in material on other areas of Project Neon.
“NDOT is committed to sustainability and improving the environment,” Illia said.
Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-0336. Follow @ Amarroquin_lv on Twitter.