Mesquite Public Works Director Bill Tanner checks out the progress of I-15 Exit 118 interchange bridge as Meadow Valley Contractors finish the seven-month project in time for a July 21 grand opening. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

Mesquite Public Works Director Bill Tanner checks out the progress of I-15 Exit 118 interchange bridge as Meadow Valley Contractors finish the seven-month project in time for a July 21 grand opening. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

Even though the original completion date has passed, the new I-15 Exit 118 interchange is nearing completion with a grand opening set for July 21.

“The construction crews will start paving the bridge Monday, June 27,” Mesquite Public Works Director Bill Tanner told the Mesquite Local News. “They still have some landscaping work and some dirt backfill to finish. The original deadline of June 24 was pushed back by unexpected requirements added by the Nevada Department of Transportation which is pretty normal for a project like this.”

Nevertheless, Meadow Valley Contractors, the design-build contractor, looks to finish the $14.748 million project in less than a year from the original contract award date last August. Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission set aside $20 million from the Indexed Fuel Tax Revenues to pay for the Mesquite project and wants it done by the November elections when voters will again have a voice in the tax continuation.

Crews work on a concrete sidewalk on the top of the newly constructed I-15 Exit 118 interchange bridge. The roadway paving is set to begin June 27. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

Crews work on a concrete sidewalk on the top of the newly constructed I-15 Exit 118 interchange bridge. The roadway paving is set to begin June 27. Photo by Barbara Ellestad.

Crews are also finishing a concrete sidewalk that will extend the walking/biking/hiking trail from Lower Flat Top Mesa to the south ramps of the interchange. Tanner says eventually the trail will follow a proposed extension along the backside of the Mesquite Technical Commerce Center (MTCC) although “that may be quite a ways down the road timewise.”

Yet to be added are the finishing touches to the first-of-its-kind tunnel bridgeway in southern Nevada including 13-foot tall metal rabbits, falcons, and lizards.

The interchange has already drawn interest from two businesses that will start construction within a year barring unforeseen circumstances. 333 Eagles Landing has plans for a travel center immediately adjacent to the new on/off ramps while REV Recreation Group, Inc. will build a new southwest regional service facility for recreational vehicles in the MTCC.