The Nevada Department of Transportation announced that the seven-member State Transportation Board approved advancing Project NEON as a public-private partnership (P3) arrangement under which a private developer will be selected to design, build, finance, operate and maintain  an improved Interstate 15 (I-15) facility for up to 35 years after completion of construction of Project NEON.

The P3 arrangement will take the form of an availability payment concession.

The RFQ is scheduled to be issued on Tuesday, July 30, 2013, and the scheduled date for submission of statements of qualifications is Sept. 26, 2013.

An industry day for the public and interested team members is scheduled for Thursday, July 25, and Friday, July 26, in Las Vegas. An open forum with a presentation by Nevada Department of Transportation will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on July 25 at the Golden Nugget Hotel-Casino, 129 E. Fremont St.

One-on-one meetings with firms that are capable of leading proposer teams for Project NEON will be held by appointment on July 25 from 1 to 4 p.m. and on Friday, July 26, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The project:

The multi-phase, multi-year project will boost safety, mobility, and accessibility in the most heavily trafficked corridor in the state of Nevada. Nearly 250,000 vehicles a day use the 3.7-mile stretch from the US 95/I-15 interchange in downtown Las Vegas to Sahara Avenue.

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.

Source: NDTO