NDOT and RHB began $55M I-80 improvement project in west Reno to widen, resurface and add auxiliary lane. Construction through 2026 to alleviate traffic congestion and enhance aesthetics with sound walls and new trees. Winter weather may impact schedule.
Photo courtesy of the Nevada Department of Transportation
Noise from Interstate 80 will be buffered by sound walls depicting wildlife native to northern Nevada.
The Nevada Department of Transportation and general contractor Road & Highway Builders (RHB) of Reno recently began a multi-year project along Interstate 80 in west Reno between Keystone Avenue and west McCarran Boulevard, according to the Northern Nevada Business Weekly.
The $55 million project will widen, resurface and improve more than a mile of I-80, Meg Ragonese, an NDOT public information officer, told the publication. The project began in late September, with completion in mid-2026.
Project funding includes state and federal highway funds.
"As the Reno-Sparks community continues to grow, NDOT continues to improve and revitalize our interstate surfaces and corridors," Ragonese told the business weekly. "We appreciate everyone's understanding of this multi-year project. At the end, there will be not only a resurfaced and improved I-80 but also an additional auxiliary lane headed east from McCarran Boulevard."
In addition to resurfacing the roadbed, RHB will create a dedicated auxiliary lane for traffic entering eastbound I-80 from McCarran Boulevard. The merge lane now ends after several hundred yards, which creates a traffic bottleneck on the interstate.
The new auxiliary lane will alleviate traffic backups along McCarran Boulevard when drivers try to access the eastbound I-80 onramp, the publication reported.
Aaron Lobato, a roadway design project coordinator for NDOT, said the new lane is an important infrastructure improvement to keep traffic flowing.
"Traffic metering [on the onramp] helped guide traffic through there more efficiently, but overall there's a huge need for this," Lobato told the business weekly. "It will be a big improvement for that area."
RHB will convert the area left of the eastbound fast lane now configured as asphalt-covered drainage into roadbed so the new lane will be added to the freeway's inside.
Will Hellickson, an RHB area manager, told the publication that the concrete barrier rail separating eastbound and westbound traffic will be demolished. In its place, RHB will build 6,800 linear ft. of retaining wall that will serve as a barrier rail between the opposing lanes of traffic.
The westbound section of the bridge over Stoker Avenue will be widened as well.
The excavation and construction of the retaining wall will provide much of the material needed to create a level grade for the roadbed, Hellickson told the business weekly.
"There actually will be an excess of dirt from the median that's being taken out," he said.
Working inside the median is a challenge, Hellickson said. Limited access requires coordination to move materials and equipment around the work zone without impacting motorists.
"The specifications are very clear that we are not allowed to impact traffic during peak commuting and daylight hours, so most of the work that has to impact traffic will be done during nighttime closures," Hellickson told the publication. "Work that can be done inside the barrier rail that doesn't impact traffic can occur during daylight hours."
Northern Nevada's weather might impact the construction schedule.
"It's always a concern because we just don't know what kind of winter we will have," Hellickson told the publication. "We could have record snowfall or a totally mild and dry winter. The work we are scheduled to start with — the retaining wall — is kind of protected from the winter. We do have to consider cold temperatures and snowfall for concrete pours, but we will take it week by week and look at forecasts to see what we can accomplish that week."
As the project progresses, it will include aesthetic changes found on other regional highway projects, such as adding decorative powder-coated steel image panels of northern Nevada reptiles and animals on the McCarran and Keystone bridge, Hellickson told the business weekly. There also will be about 8,000 linear ft. of Truckee River-themed sound walls built to mitigate traffic noise for adjacent neighborhoods.
Some of the existing trees will be removed and replaced with more than 400 deciduous and evergreen trees adapted to northern Nevada, Ragonese told the business weekly.
The construction of sound walls and other aesthetic improvements is slated for 2026, Hellickson said.
Today's top stories
