By james art NDOT and RHB began a $55 million I-80 improvement project in west Reno to widen, repaving and add an auxiliary lane. Construction by 2026 to ease congestion and improve aesthetics with strong walls and new trees. Winter weather may affect the schedule.
Photo courtesy of Nevada Department of Transportation
The 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 on Interstate 80 in west Reno between Keystone Avenue and west McCarran Boulevard, according to Northern Nevada Business Weekly.
The $55 million project will widen, rebuild and improve more than a mile of I-80, Meg Ragonese, NDOT public information officer, told the publication. The project began at the end of September and was completed in mid-2026.
Funding for the project 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 Business Weekly. “We appreciate everyone’s understanding of this multi-year project. At the end, there will be not only a redesigned and improved I-80, but also an additional eastbound emergency lane from McCarran Boulevard.”
In addition to resurfacing the roadway, RHB will create a dedicated auxiliary lane for traffic entering eastbound I-80 from McCarran Boulevard. The merging lane now ends after several hundred yards, creating a traffic jam on the interstate.
The new auxiliary lane will ease traffic backups along McCarran Boulevard as drivers try to enter the I-80 eastbound ramp, the publication reported.
Aaron Lobato, roadway design project coordinator for NDOT, said the new lane is an important infrastructure improvement to support traffic.
“Traffic measurement [on the onramp] helped direct traffic through there more efficiently, but overall there’s a huge need for it,” Lobato told Business Weekly. “It’s going to be a big improvement for that area.”
RHB will convert the area to the left of the eastbound fast lane, which is now configured as an asphalt surface drainage, to a carriageway so that the new lane is added to the interior of the freeway.
Will Hellickson, RHB area manager, told the publication that the concrete barrier separating eastbound and westbound traffic will be demolished. In its place, RHB will construct 6,800 linear feet of retaining wall that will serve as a barrier between opposing lanes of traffic.
The west side of the bridge over Stoker Avenue will also be widened.
The excavation and construction of the retaining wall will provide much of the material needed to create a grade for the roadway, Hellickson told the Business Weekly.
“There will actually be excess dirt from the median that is taken out,” he said.
Working within the median is a challenge, Hellickson said. Limited access requires coordination to move materials and equipment around the work area without affecting drivers.
“The specifications are very clear that we are not allowed to impact traffic during peak commuting and daytime hours, so most of the work that needs to impact traffic will be done during night hours closures,” Hellickson told the publication. “Work that can be done inside the barrier rail that doesn’t impact traffic can be done during daylight hours.”
Weather in Northern Nevada can affect the construction schedule.
“It’s always worrisome because we just don’t know what kind of winter we’re going to have,” Hellickson told the publication. “We could have record snowfall or a completely mild and dry winter. The work we have to start with – the retaining wall – is somewhat protected from the winter. We have to factor in cold temperatures and snowfall to pour concrete, but we’ll take it week by week and look at the forecast to see what we can accomplish this week.”
As the project progresses, it will incorporate aesthetic changes found in other regional highway projects, such as the addition of decorative powder-coated steel panels depicting Northern Nevada reptiles and animals on the McCarran and Keystone Bridges, Hellickson told the Business Weekly. There will also be about 8,000 linear feet of Truckee River-themed sound walls built to mitigate traffic noise in neighboring 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.
Construction of sound walls and other aesthetic improvements is slated for 2026, Hellickson said.