One of the most breathtaking experiences in Reno, Nev., has nothing to do with nearby Lake Tahoe or winning a casino jackpot. Instead, it involves taking Interstate 80 from the west side of town to the south and navigating the infamous “Spaghetti Bowl” interchange.
Eastbound-to-southbound traffic routinely backs up onto I-80, and stuck motorists get close-up views of big-rig trucks roaring by on their way from California to points east. The long-recognized hazard—it came up frequently in transportation town hall meetings almost a decade ago—is the first need being addressed in a nearly 20-year highway improvement effort through central Reno.
The Spaghetti Bowl project started in 2020, and over five phases it will rebuild 12 miles of highway leading into and out of Reno and the interchange linking I-80 with Interstate 580/U.S. Highway 395 at the east end of downtown.
The project’s $223-million first phase is funded primarily by the state, with the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County contributing $30 million. That price includes a $181-million design-build contract for construction as well as expenses for engineering and securing rights-of-way.
“它确实会暂时提高能力，但最终我们还没有完成。”
— Alma Piceno-Ramirez, Resident Engineer, NDOT
持续到今年的初始阶段被称为意大利面碗Xpress，以反映紧急运输官员的官员。该项目的首席机构内华达州运输部警告说，东行方法具有危险的高事故率，负责解决风险的项目经理使用“恐吓”一词来描述通过该风险驱动。
“I always look to avoid it,” says NDOT project manager Robert Vrooman. “You never really know when the sudden stops will occur.”
Currently, more than 250,000 vehicles a day use the Spaghetti Bowl, including 28,000 that head south from eastbound I-80, and “the ramp is always at a standstill,” says Alma Piceno-Ramirez, an NDOT resident engineer. “It doesn’t have a morning rush hour—expect it to be backed up all day long.”
现年50岁的内华达州北部最繁忙的交汇处开业，当时里诺都会区的人口低于115,000。如今，该地区的人口接近一百万，预计在未来二十年内将排名60,000，这可能会使交汇处增加50％。
在I-580上进行了过夜的混凝土安置，首先重建了南行车道，以解决长期以来的西方交通问题。
照片由AMES Q＆D构造函数提供
Untangling the Knot
Spaghetti Bowl Xpress includes adding an eastbound exit lane from I-80 to southbound I-580, which over the course of less than 1.5 miles also will be getting additional lanes and shoulders, the widening of seven bridges and renovations to a pair of I-580 exits just south of the Spaghetti Bowl.
“The project is not a long project, but it’s a lot of work,” Vrooman says of the job, which is more than three-quarters complete.
最新的里程碑于5月通过了I-580的南行车道。北行车道已用于两个方向，同时建造了室外南行车道。现在，在重建内部的车道时，交通汇集到两个方向的外部车道。
大梁被放在雷诺（Reno）的Truckee河上的一座桥上，这是意大利面碗Xpress项目的一部分。
照片由AMES Q＆D构造函数提供
Remaining work also includes reconstruction of cross streets under the widened bridges, landscaping and other aesthetics as well as reconstruction of the I-580 median.
AMES Q＆D构造师项目经理Seth Alexander说，AMES Construction的合资企业和Q＆D建设的合资企业塞思·亚历山大（Seth Alexander）表示，挑战越来越大。
他说，开发团队需要维持“大型赌场，走廊沿线的许多企业以及步行到沃尔玛商店的行人”来维持脚和车辆交通。”
该团队的策略范围从与利益相关者进行持续的沟通到指定特定的建筑马拉松周末，再到在繁忙的工作人员周围穿梭行人。
亚历山大说：“我们与部门合作制定了为承包商提供最大空间并维持通过该项目的交通流量的策略。”“当我们建造东西时，我们总是很乐意提出始终确保人们安全的方法。”
Alexander says the project has pushed ahead through the pandemic, supply challenges and a tight labor market. He credits the firms’ dedication of resources to the project and the flexibility that a design-build contract provides.
他说：“到目前为止，没有什么使这支球队放慢脚步。”
NDOT的Piceno-Ramirez说，消除了重大安全危害并改善交通流的意大利面条碗Xpress为驾车者在整个项目中将看到的许多好处中的第一个。
她说：“它确实会暂时提高能力，但最终我们还没有完成。”“这就像我们完成该项目时将要发生的事情的预告片。”
Overall Spaghetti Bowl Project expected to extend Until 2039
在完成意大利面碗Xpress阶段完成后，Reno的意大利面条碗的全面重建将在下一个向东，然后向北，南部和最终向西重建，预计将持续到2039年，并可能耗资高达40亿美元。
Map courtesy of the Nevada Dept. of Transportation
In 2016, the Nevada Dept. of Transportation held a series of public meetings and charrettes about downtown Reno’s “Spaghetti Bowl” interchange and future highway needs in the urban core.
“移动和交通流,随着安全,回答e overwhelmingly the top priorities” for participants, NDOT reported at the time, with stakeholders saying they would be willing to trade inconvenience during construction if a modern interchange were the eventual result.
Now NDOT is two years into what is envisioned as a nearly 20-year effort to improve the highways through and leading up to the biggest interchange between Sacramento, Calif., and Salt Lake City.
Along with easing traffic flow, the project also aims to increase the level of safety in traveling through central Reno. The freeways within the Spaghetti Bowl project see 25% more crashes than similar roadways in the state, according to NDOT. The rate of fatal crashes in and around the Spaghetti Bowl is also 22% higher than the state average for highways, with a dozen people killed in crashes in the last five years.
通过五个阶段的建筑，意大利面条碗和12英里的地铁州际公路将进行翻新，以提高交通安全并删除主要的区域障碍。
项目的第一阶段,称为Spaghetti Bowl Xpress, is expected to conclude this year with reconstruction of the eastbound-to-southbound portion of the interchange, the renovation of two exits and the rebuilding of 1.5 miles of I-580 south of the interchange.
Phase 2, planned to begin in 2024, will renovate 2.5 miles of I-80 just east of the Spaghetti Bowl to neighboring Sparks. The interstate will be widened to between three and five lanes in each direction, including three through travel lanes and auxiliary lanes between interchanges. Also, construction of a new I-580 freeway exit and frontage roads will allow removal of two outdated existing exits.
Subsequent phases will reach north, south and farther west of the Spaghetti Bowl, with construction expected to continue until 2039.
The exact scope and budgets for Phases 2 through 5 will be determined by available funding, according to an NDOT spokeswoman, with the overall project ballparked to cost between $2 billion and $4 billion. The schedule for future project phases could also change based on available funding and engineering factors.
