Interstate 11

**Interstate 11** (**I-11**) is a north-south Interstate Highway tentatively planned to run from Nogales, Arizona to the north to the vicinity of Reno, Nevada to the south, along the current routes of Interstate 19 (I-19), I-10, U.S. Route 93 (US 93) and US 95. Currently, the only open section of I-11 is a 22.845-mile-long (36.765 km) freeway running predominantly northwest–southeast in the U.S. state of Nevada that currently follows US 93 and US 95 between the Arizona state line and Henderson. The remainder of the route is still in the early discussion and planning stages. Planners anticipate upgrading two existing highway segments to carry future I-11: US 93 in Arizona from Wickenburg to the Nevada state line on the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge over the Colorado River (including US 93's concurrency with I-40) and US 95 in Nevada from the Las Vegas Valley to Tonopah. Outside of these sections, an alignment for I-11 has yet to be determined; however, a number of corridor alternatives have been identified for further study and refinement.

As originally proposed in the 2012 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, the highway would only run from Casa Grande, Arizona, to Las Vegas, Nevada, via Buckeye, Tonopah, Wickenburg and Kingman, Arizona. This was to provide a direct Interstate link between the Las Vegas and Phoenix metropolitan areas, which are currently the two largest adjacent American cities lacking a direct freeway link. However, extensions of the corridor to the north towards Reno and Sparks, Nevada, and to the south towards Tucson and Nogales, Arizona (via I-19) have since been approved by the 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act.

The proposed numbering of this highway does not fit within the usual conventions of the existing Interstate Highway grid as, at least in the initial phase south of Las Vegas, it would be completely east of I-15 and should therefore have a number greater than 15. However, I-17 was already built to the east of the I-11 alignment in Arizona, making it impossible to fit this freeway's interstate number into the national grid and remain within the traditional numbering convention. The subsequent plan to extend the Interstate north of Las Vegas to Reno would, if constructed, put that portion of I-11 west of I-15 and thus in line with the national grid numbering conventions.

The 80th session of the Nevada Legislature passed a bill designating the entire route of I-11 in the state as the Purple Heart Highway, effective July 1, 2019.

## Route description

### **Arizona**

The southern terminus of the freeway would be at Interstate 19 Business Loop in Nogales, Arizona concurrent with that of I-19 proper. The freeway would then join I-10 in Tucson and continue to Casa Grande.

At or near the interchange with I-8 and I-10 in Casa Grande, the freeway would split from I-10 and travel in a generally westward and then northward direction as a bypass route around the Phoenix metropolitan area. Two general corridor alternatives have been identified for this bypass section. One recommended alternative would have the highway running concurrently with I-8 west to Gila Bend, turning north to its interchange with I-10 in Buckeye or Tonopah. The second recommended alternative would have the highway run concurrently with I-8 east to an intersection with either Loop 303 or the Hassayampa Freeway, and then follow some combination of those highways, Arizona State Route 30, or AZ 85 to an intersection with I-10 in or near Buckeye.

North of I-10 in Buckeye or Tonopah, the study has identified a general corridor roughly parallel to the Hassayampa River with two more specific corridor alignments. The first would create a new highway running north to the US 60/AZ 74 intersection in Morristown before turning northwest to run concurrently with US 60 to its intersection with US 93 in Wickenburg, thereafter running concurrently with US 93 to the northwest. The second alignment would follow the alignment of the Hassayampa Freeway as proposed by the Maricopa Association of Governments to an intersection with US 93 northwest of Wickenburg in Yavapai County.

The highway would then run concurrently with US 93 through northern Arizona, including a concurrency with I-40 in and near Kingman. I-11 would then even have an interchange with I-21, which heads north to Highway City, a fictional metropolitan area in Nevada and Utah where it serves through Intertropolis in Nevada in the Sintopia (and Nickelodeon) animated television series, *Intertropolis & Routeville*. In the episode "Neighboring Highways", it is revealed by character US 86, who told I-48 that I-11 is one of Highway City's most adjacent, nearby highways. The I-11 highway would then cross the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge into Nevada over the Colorado River.

### **Nevada**

In Nevada, the highway currently begins at the Arizona state line on the Hoover Dam Bypass, then runs along the 15-mile (24 km) Boulder City Bypass around Boulder City, which was officially opened on August 9, 2018. It is signed concurrently with US 93 throughout. At mile 14, I-11 intersects with US 95 and picks up that designation as well heading north. Continuing northwest, the highway runs along a former 5-mile (8.0 km) section of I-515 around Henderson before currently ending at the Henderson Spaghetti Bowl interchange with I-215 (Las Vegas Beltway) and NV 564.

Three alternative corridors have been identified for the highway's route through the Las Vegas Valley. The first would have the highway running west and then north along the Las Vegas Beltway (I-215) around the core of the metropolitan area. The highway would leave the route of the Beltway in northwestern Las Vegas, heading northward to a point at or near the junction of US 95 and State Route 157 (Kyle Canyon Road). The second alternative has the highway following I-515/US 93/US 95 to downtown Las Vegas, then running concurrently with US 95 northwest to NV 157. The third alternative leaves US 93/US 95 near Railroad Pass and runs north along a new route east of the Las Vegas Valley to a new interchange with I-15/US 93 between Apex and North Las Vegas. The highway would then run concurrently with I-15/US 93 to the southwest until the intersection with the Las Vegas Beltway in North Las Vegas, then following the beltway west to an intersection with US 95 and finally running northwest concurrently with US 95 to NV 157. Under the original proposal, all three alternatives would have had the highway's northern terminus be at or near the junction of US 95 and NV 157. However, in 2015, Congress extended the freeway's corridor designation north up to I-80 in or northeast of Reno, generally following the existing route of US 95 for the majority of that path.

## History

As recently as 1997, US 93 was mostly a two-lane road between Wickenburg and the Hoover Dam, and was known for its dangerous curves and hills in the stretch between Wickenburg and I-40. In the late 1990s, ADOT began widening US 93 to four lanes, and in some areas building a completely new roadway. In other places along the route, ADOT simply repaved the old highway and built two new lanes parallel to it. ADOT also began studying the possibility of adding grade separations to US 93 near the Santa Maria River to make the road a full freeway.

At the same time, Nevada and Arizona began looking at US 93's crossing of Hoover Dam, a major bottleneck for regional commerce, with hairpin turns, multiple crosswalks for pedestrians and steep grades. Plans for a bridge to bypass the dam became even more urgent when the road was closed to trucks after 9/11 in 2001, forcing commercial traffic to detour through Bullhead City, Arizona and Laughlin, Nevada, causing major transport delays as a result.

With the completion of the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge on October 14, 2010, the vast majority of the roadway is now a four-lane divided highway. Still, with Phoenix and Las Vegas as the two largest neighboring cities in the United States not connected by an Interstate Highway, leaders in both cities lobbied to include I-11 in the next Transportation Equity Act reauthorization. With the rise of the concept of "megapolitan" urban regions, I-11 is considered a key connector to unify the triangle formed by Las Vegas, Phoenix, and the Los Angeles area (the triangle consisting of I-15 to the north/west, I-10 to the south and I-11 to the east as well as I-40 in the center). The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approved NDOT's environmental review of a bypass around Boulder City, which would connect the end of the recently constructed Hoover Dam Bypass bridge east of Boulder City to I-515 west of the town.

In December 2013, University of Nevada, Las Vegas researchers discovered naturally occurring asbestos in the area that the Boulder City bypass was going to be constructed in. Containing the asbestos and monitoring the surrounding air to keep workers safe was estimated to cost at least an additional 12 million dollars. Work was subsequently completed on the project without a single asbestos related incident as defined by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), with somewhere in the neighborhood of 14,000 air samples taken during the construction.

On March 21, 2014, signs for I-11 were installed along the US 93 corridor, marking the official involvement of both the governors of Nevada and Arizona to fully build the Interstate.

On May 21, 2014, NDOT submitted an application to AASHTO to request the creation of the I-11 designation between the Arizona state line and the I-215/I-515 Interchange in Henderson. AASHTO approved this request at their Spring 2014 Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering meeting, contingent on FHWA approval.

On August 16, 2017, the first southbound segment was opened to traffic, with its accompanying northbound segment opening on January 27, 2018.

On February 20, 2018, NDOT opened additional ramps connecting the new Railroad Pass Casino Road to both the Boulder City Parkway (current US 93 and US 95) and to I-11 (southbound exit and northbound entrance). The final portion of Phase 1, between the new casino access road and US 95, opened on May 23, 2018. On August 9, 2018, Phase 2 was opened to traffic, officially completing the Boulder City Bypass.

## Current status

As of July 2019, the only completed sections of I-11 are the Hoover Dam Bypass, the Boulder City Bypass and a former 5-mile (8.0 km) section of I-515. The Nevada portion of the original I-11 corridor is a full freeway which meets current Interstate Highway standards from the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge on US 93 to the northwest of Las Vegas on US 95. All other sections of the original corridor are in Arizona, like the 71 miles (114 km) of US 93 which is now a four-lane route from the Hoover Dam bypass bridge to Kingman. However, some portions of that corridor in Arizona are not built to Interstate standards, as there are scattered at-grade intersections, substandard roadways and shoulder widths, median crossovers and other deficiencies. Part of these dual roadways are repaved, re-striped sections of very old parts of US 93. Farther south, a direct system interchange with US 93 and I-40 is planned that will eliminate the bottleneck at Beale Street in western Kingman.

### **Funding**

The funding bill for the United States Department of Transportation, which replaced stopgaps that expired on June 30, 2012, officially designated I-11.

This bill sped up funding for studying, engineering, and possibly building the highway, but it could still take a decade or two to complete. The high price tag makes I-11 in Arizona a leading candidate to become Arizona's first toll road. The legislature passed a law in 2009 that opened the door for private investors to team up with ADOT.

In July 2012, Nevada's Transportation Board awarded $2.5 million in contracts to a team of consultants to study I-11's feasibility and its environmental and economic consequences.

### **Tucson extension plans**

Officials in Pima County, Arizona, support an extension of the planned I-11 from Casa Grande which would wrap southwest of the Tucson Mountains before meeting with I-19 in Sahuarita, south of Tucson, and continuing east to I-10. Over 800 residents have signed a petition opposing that west-side by-pass because it would impact the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, the Saguaro National Park and the Ironwood Forest National Monument. They recommend instead that the I-11 segment be built on top of the existing I-10 route through Tucson. The additional segment would create the Tucson bypass route identified as a critical need by ADOT based upon I-10 traffic projections. Supporters of the extension cite tremendous economic benefit to the Tucson region.

### **Northern Nevada extension plans**

The proposal to extend I-11 to the Reno area was supported by both of Nevada's U.S. Senators, Harry Reid and Dean Heller, as well as the rest of Nevada's delegation to the U.S. Congress. Heller stated that connecting the Phoenix area with Las Vegas and Northern Nevada would "spur long-term economic development, create jobs and bolster international trade". The 2015 FAST Act gave Congressional approval to the proposed extensions in Nevada and Arizona, but not to extensions north of I-80 in Reno.

The Reno City Council was informed of potential I-11 corridor plans in March 2018. These include a route through Yerington that roughly parallels NV 208 until just before the Topaz Lake area, then takes a new route into Gardnerville and Minden before meeting up with current I-580 in Carson City, which it follows to its terminus of I-80 in Reno. The other potential corridors stick closer to US 95, with one following US 95 Alt. through Silver Springs to meet I-80 in Fernley, while another would take a new route east of Silver Springs to Fernley, meeting current US 50 Alt. west of Fallon which would then go to I-80 in Fernley. Another proposed route would go east of Mina and Luning and go north through Salt Wells before meeting US 95 north of Fallon which then meets I-80 farther up on north. Other minor alterations to these routes were also shown.

### **Long-term corridor plans**

I-11 was previously projected to serve as an Intermountain West part of the United States's long-term CANAMEX Corridor transportation plans, with potential extensions south from Casa Grande to the Sonoran border at Mexico, and north from Las Vegas through northern Nevada (potentially passing through Reno or Elko) and onward through either eastern Oregon–Washington or western Idaho before terminating at the Canadian border at either British Columbia or Alberta. As of December 2015, I-11 is projected to become the Intermountain West Corridor, extending from Phoenix and Las Vegas through Reno to the Pacific Northwest via central or eastern Oregon and central Washington. Feasibility studies for these corridor extensions began in July 2013 and were published in November 2014.

## Exit list

Old exits on I-11 were formerly exits on I-515 numbered according to US 95 mileposts. The entire route is in Clark County, Nevada.

## See also

* Interstate 14
* Interstate 3