The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) has decided that the Project Neon will be financed by a public bond solution with a design-build procurement delivery, finally rejecting the public-private partnership solution. 

The cancelation of the P3 delivery is a hard hit to the industry which had high expectations for this project.

According to the state transportation board, the new financing plan will be more flexible and affordable than a PPP. Construction works are expected to start late next year or early 2016. The project is expected to be operational by 2020. Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval stated:

Originally, in that first version of the design build, it wasn't going to be completed until 2030. So now, we've been able to compress that time, get it done by 2020, get it done cheaper and make sure that it is affordable for the people in Nevada.

The total project investment has increased from US$602 million to US$740 million.

The multi-phase, multi-year project will boost safety, mobility, and accessibility in the most heavily trafficked corridor in the state of Nevada, USA. Approximately 260,000 vehicles travel the stretch daily.

The primary features of Project Neon's initial improvement will include building a one-mile high occupancy vehicle (HOV) bridge connecting I-15 to US 95, creating a new HOV interchange, reconstructing the Charleston/I-15 interchange and ramp braiding for the southbound movements.

NDOT director Rudy Malfabon, commented:

This is going to basically make a free-flow situation. The HOV system on U.S. 95, the carpool lanes, will connect to central lanes on I-15, so they'll be more direct access, you can actually get off into the resort quarter.

The P3 procurement had been already initiated and NDOT had announced the list of shortlisted proposals for the project in early November 2013. The list was the following:

• Las Vegas Paving Corp. and Macquarie Capital Group
• Kiewit Development Co. and Meridiam Infrastructure
• ACS Infrastructure Development, Fengate Capital Management and Star America Fund GP

Early this year we published that Nevada's Board of Transportation approved the sale of US$100 million in revenue bonds to buy right-of-way to widen Interstate 15 in Las Vegas.