page_title: U.S. Route 95 in Nevada
section_title: Las Vegas Expressway
hierarchical_section_title: U.S. Route 95 in Nevada / History / Improvements in the Las Vegas metro area / Las Vegas Expressway
caption_attribution_description: English: View south along U.S. Route 95 at Exit 77 (Rancho Drive) in Las Vegas, Nevada
context_page_description: U.S. Route 95 is a major U.S. highway traversing the U.S. state of Nevada from north to south directly through Las Vegas and providing connections to both Carson City and Reno. US 95 is cosigned with Interstate 80 for 95 miles between a junction in Trinity and Winnemucca before heading north into Oregon at McDermitt. At 646 miles, it is the longest highway in Nevada.
  Along much of its course through Nevada, US 95 has signs designating it as the Veterans Memorial Highway. A portion of the route in Las Vegas northwest of downtown is also called the Oran K. Gragson Freeway, named for the Las Vegas mayor who advocated for construction of that portion of freeway in the 1960s.
context_section_description: Elected in 1959, Las Vegas mayor Oran K. Gragson began advocating for regional street and planning initiatives in the growing Las Vegas Valley. In the early 1960s, Gragson had become instrumentally involved in planning what was then referred to as the "West Fremont Expressway". By 1968, the expressway was beginning to take shape, beginning at Las Vegas Boulevard downtown, interchanging with Interstate 15 and spurring west towards Rancho Drive.
  The Las Vegas Expressway was slowly constructed over the next decade, reaching west to Rainbow Boulevard by 1978. A northward extension, linking the expressway to the Tonopah Highway northwest of downtown was completed around 1980. By 1982, US 95 was moved from Rancho Drive to the completed expressway alignment. Also in 1982, as the result of a petition drive, the new US 95 expressway was renamed to the "Oran K. Gragson Expressway" in honor of the four-term mayor. The Nevada Department of Transportation now recognizes this portion of US 95 as the "Oran K. Gragson Freeway".
caption: View south along U.S. Route 95 approaching I-15, I-515 and US 93 in Las Vegas in 2015
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