UK-based engineering consultant Atkins is to play a key role in the development of a freeway designed to ease traffic in the city of Las Vegas.
As design lead on the team led by Kiewit Infrastructure West, Atkins will manage all design and engineering services for Nevada Department of Transportation’s (NDOT) Project NEON, a new freeway running through the heart of the city.
Announcing the project win today, Atkins called it Nevada’s most ambitious project and its own "most significant win in North America".
It involves building a 3.7-mile corridor through downtown Las Vegas in an area that currently sees 300,000 vehicle movements every day.
"Atkins is tremendously proud to be the lead design firm for this critical project, which has been deemed NDOT’s most important and ambitious in its history," said L. Joe Boyer, CEO, Atkins, North America.
"Project NEON is essential to the progression of Las Vegas’ transportation demands and quality of life, given traffic is expected to double for this corridor in the next 20 years."
The construction project will be phased over three years starting in 2016 and connect high occupancy vehicle lanes with a flyover bridge, creating direct access carpool lanes and a new "Neon Gateway" interchange.
"Project NEON addresses a multitude of corridor deficiencies related to congestion, crash rates, operations, and system linkages," said NDOT Director Rudy Malfabon. "It will dramatically improve traffic congestion in Southern Nevada, while also creating 4,000 high-paying, quality jobs."
Atkins has designed numerous other road projects for NDOT.
Photograph: Artist’s render of the the new freeway (Atkins)
