U.S. Route 95 (US 95) is a major U.S. highway traversing the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

from north to south directly through

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

and providing connections to both

Carson City Carson City, officially the Carson City Consolidated Municipality, is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the 6th most populous city in the state. The m ...

(via

US 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

) and

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

(via

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

). US 95 is cosigned with Interstate 80 for between Winnemucca and a junction 32 miles north of Fallon before heading north into

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

at McDermitt. At , 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 Las Vegas mayor Oran K. Gragson who advocated for construction of that portion of freeway in the 1960s.

Route description

U.S. Route 95 enters Nevada in Palm Gardens and heads north towards Railroad Pass, where it meets

Interstate 11 Interstate 11 (I-11) is an Interstate Highway that currently runs for on a predominantly northwest–southeast alignment in the U.S. state of Nevada, running concurrently with either or both U.S. Route 93 (US 93) and US 9 ...

and

US 93 U.S. Route 93 (US 93) is a major north–south U.S. Numbered Highway in the western United States, that connects U.S. Route 60 (US 60) in Wickenburg, Arizona, with British Columbia Highway 93 at the Canadian border (north of ...

. The three routes are then co-signed in the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan St ...

and east of

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname * Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *H ...

, I-11 is co-signed with US 93/95 for its entire route around the eastern Las Vegas Valley. I-11 continues through a Spaghetti junction known as the Henderson Spaghetti Bowl or Hender-Bender interchange of Interstate 215 and SR 564. The freeway then heads west into

Downtown Las Vegas Downtown Las Vegas (commonly abbreviated as DTLV) is the central business district and historic center of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the original townsite, and the Downtown gaming Las Vegas, Downtown Gaming Area was the primary gambl ...

, where it intersects

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the Western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Ca ...

. At the Spaghetti Bowl interchange, US 93 follows I-15 northbound. From I-15 to Elkhorn Road, I-11 and US 95 have

HOV lanes A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and at least one passenger, ...

that are currently enforced by both

LVMPD The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (also known as the LVMPD or Metro) is a combined city and county law enforcement agency for the City of Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is headed by the Sheriff of Clark County, ...

(aka Metro) and

NSP NSP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Afghan National Solidarity Programme, an initiative to develop villages in Afghanistan * National Ski Patrol, a rescue organization in ski areas in the United States * National Solidarity Party (Singa ...

(formerly NHP). I-11 and US 95 head west, then north at an interchange with

Summerlin Parkway State Route 613 (SR 613), also known as Summerlin Parkway, is a freeway in the western portion of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, connecting Clark County Route 215 (CC 215) to I-11/ ), and serving the master-planned community of Summ ...

(SR 613) over Rainbow Boulevard. Eventually, the freeway passes through the Centennial Bowl with the

Las Vegas Beltway The Las Vegas Beltway (officially named the Bruce Woodbury Beltway) is a beltway route circling three-quarters of the Las Vegas Valley in southern Nevada. The Las Vegas Beltway carries two numerical designations. of the highway, from its south ...

(CC 215) in the northwest at Centennial Hills where I-11 currently ends at Kyle Canyon Road (SR 157) and Sunstone Parkway. The freeway portion then currently ends at Corn Creek Road, northwest of the Las Vegas Valley and then it becomes a brief four-lane divided highway. US 95 exits Clark County and heads into eastern

Nye County Nye County is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,591. Its county seat is Tonopah. At , Nye is Nevada's largest county by area and the third-largest county in the contiguous United States, beh ...

for 107 miles. The four-lane divided highway currently ends past the Mercury interchange. It then enters Esmeralda and continues for 44 miles before meeting

US 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the Grand Army of the Republic, American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbere ...

in Tonopah, back in Nye County. US 6/95 leave Tonopah, after two miles, enters Esmeralda County again and heads west for until Coaldale, where US 6 splits west towards

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and its western terminus at

US 395 U.S. Route 395 (US 395), also known as U.S. Highway 395, is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that traverses the inland areas of the western states of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. It travels for over from a junctio ...

Bishop, California Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is the only incorporated city in Inyo County, California, United States. It is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley within the Mojave Desert, at an elevation of . The city was named after Bishop Creek ...

. US 95 then heads northwest towards

Hawthorne Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may also refer to: Places Australia *Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane Canada * Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario United States * Hawt ...

and Schurz, where US 95 Alternate splits west towards US 50, providing an alternate route towards Carson City and Reno. US 95 itself goes north towards Fallon, where it intersects US 50. US 95 meets Interstate 80 and US 95 Alternate about halfway between Lovelock and Fernley. The two routes then run concurrently for until reaching Winnemucca, where US 95 splits from I-80 and follows Interstate 80 Business into downtown Winnemucca. In downtown Winnemucca, US 95 turns north in the general direction of Paradise Valley, leaving Interstate 80 Business to follow SR 289 east. North of Winnemucca, US 95 meets the eastern terminus of SR 140, which connects to Lakeview ( U.S. Route 395) and

Klamath Falls Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city wa ...

and the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. US 95 finally exits Nevada at McDermitt and heads into Oregon.

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

street maps and

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but histori ...

s, accessed December 2007 vi
ACME Mapper
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History

Extension into Nevada

When the original plan for the

U.S. highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

system was adopted by the

American Association of State Highway Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United St ...

(AASHO) in 1926, US 95 was one of the routes created. At that time, however, the route only existed in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

from the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

near Eastport to

Weiser Weiser may refer to: Places * Weiser Airpark, a defunct aerodrome in Texas * Weiser, Idaho * Weiser State Forest * Weiser Township, North Dakota * Weiser River People * Conrad Weiser (1696–1760), German pioneer * Grethe Weiser (1903–1970), Ger ...

near the

state line. A proposal to extend US 95 south to Winnemucca was considered by AASHO in 1937; however, action was deferred due to incomplete sections in Oregon. AASHO reconsidered the idea at its meeting on June 28, 1939, as part of a larger plan to extend the highway south to

Blythe, California Blythe () is a city in eastern Riverside County, California, United States. It is in the Palo Verde Valley of the Lower Colorado River Valley region, an agricultural area and part of the Colorado Desert along the Colorado River, approximatel ...

. This plan was adopted, officially establishing US 95 throughout Nevada effective January 1, 1940. The route was marked along several preexisting

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

s as follows: *From the Oregon state line at McDermitt, US 95 followed State Route 8 for to Winnemucca. *At Winnemucca, the route joined

U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...

( State Route 1), traveling southwest via Lovelock to Fernley. *In Fernley, US 95 followed State Route 2 for to Fallon (with a short overlap on

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

west of Fallon). *The highway turned south at Fallon, running concurrently with the southern segment of State Route 1A to Schurz. *At Schurz, US 95 was routed along

State Route 3 The following highways are numbered 3, H-3, PRI-3, AH3, E03 and R3. For roads numbered A3, see A3 roads. For roads numbered M3, see M3 (disambiguation)#Roads, M3. For roads numbered N3, see N3 (disambiguation)#Roads, N3. For roads numbered 3A, see ...

, zigzagging south and east through

, Luning, Coaldale, Tonopah and Goldfield (including an overlap with

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbered Highway System. While it ...

between Coaldale and Tonopah). *South of Goldfield, the highway overlapped the entire of State Route 5, traveling southeast through

Beatty Beatty may refer to: Places U.S. places * Beatty, Nevada * Beatty, Ohio * Beatty, Oregon * Beatty, Kentucky, now known as Beattyville Other places * Beatty, Saskatchewan Beatty ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of S ...

and Indian Springs to

, joining

U.S. Route 93 U.S. Route 93 (US 93) is a major north–south U.S. Numbered Highway in the western United States, that connects U.S. Route 60 (US 60) in Wickenburg, Arizona, with British Columbia Highway 93 at the Canadian border (north of ...

/ U.S. Route 466 through

Boulder City Boulder City is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is approximately southeast of Las Vegas. As of the 2020 census, the population of Boulder City was 14,885. The city took its name from Boulder Canyon. Boulder City is one of o ...

, then splitting from US 93/466 heading south through

Searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...

towards the

state line en route to Needles. The Nevada portion of US 95 covered a distance of approximately . The entire route was on paved roads, except for a small portion of SR 5 between the California state line and Searchlight.

Fallon to Winnemucca realignment

When U.S. Route 95 was designated through Nevada, it avoided using a shorter alignment between Winnemucca and Fallon. The northern segment of State Route 1A had been previously established running north from Fallon to connect with US 40 southwest of Lovelock. At the time, however, this portion of SR 1A was mostly an unimproved road. State Route 1A had been completely paved by 1959, and the US 95 designation was moved over it by 1960. This new alignment eliminated the need to drive west to Fernley and then double back eastward, shortening the highway's length by about . When US 95 was realigned, the former route via Fernley was redesignated as

alternate route An official alternate route is a special route in the United States that provides an alternate alignment for a highway. They are loop roads and found in many road systems in the United States including the U.S. Highway system and various stat ...

. This would be the second highway to bear this designation, as another U.S. Route 95 Alternate had been created between Schurz and Fernley years earlier. The two separate alternate routes would continue to meet in Fernley until circa 1978, when U.S. Route 50 Alternate replaced the section of US 95 Alternate (original US 95) heading east towards Fallon.

Improvements in the Las Vegas metro area

When US 95 was extended through the Las Vegas Valley around 1940, it used the existing roadways traversed by State Route 5. Crossing the valley from the southeast, the U.S. highway traveled along Boulder Highway (now SR 582) through Henderson and the town of

Whitney Whitney or Whittney may refer to: Film and television * ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta * ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston * ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that ...

. Reaching the city limits of Las Vegas, the road changed names to

Fremont Street Fremont Street is a street in Downtown Las Vegas, downtown Las Vegas, Nevada that is the second-most famous street in both the Las Vegas Valley and in the state of Nevada, after the Las Vegas Strip. It is named in honor of explorer and politicia ...

as it headed into downtown. The route followed

Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas Boulevard is a major road in Clark County, Nevada, Clark County, Nevada, United States, best known for the Las Vegas Strip portion of the road and its casinos. Formerly carrying U.S. Route 91 in Nevada, U.S. Route 91 (US 91), wh ...

northward briefly before going west on Bonanza Road (now SR 579). US 95 finally turned northwest on Rancho Drive (now SR 599), which became the Tonopah Highway as it traveled northwest out of the Vegas valley. ("Clark County 1952 004" ZIP file contains map image.) Over the years, this routing of US 95 along city streets would slowly be replaced with newer, high-speed facilities.

Las Vegas Expressway

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

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 The Nevada Department of Transportation (Nevada DOT or NDOT) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Nevada. NDOT is responsible for maintaining and improving Nevada's highway system, which includes U.S. highways and Interstate highways with ...

now recognizes this portion of US 95 as the "Oran K. Gragson Freeway".

Henderson spur

The first section of the future I-515 freeway in Las Vegas opened from the east end of the 1968-era Las Vegas Expressway at Las Vegas Boulevard to Charleston Boulevard in 1984. It was extended south to Boulder Highway (at current exit 70) by 1986. US 95 was moved from Las Vegas Boulevard, Fremont Street, and Boulder Highway onto the new freeway at that time. As additional sections of freeway were completed, both US 95 and the concurrently routed US 93 were moved to the new facility. The I-515 designation was added in 1990, but not widely signed until the completion of the entire freeway to just north of Railroad Pass in 1994. The former alignment on Fremont Street and Boulder Highway is now SR 582, though some portions of that route are now being decommissioned by the state and turned over to local entities for maintenance. In May 2006, the (freeway-to-freeway) interchange was completed to replace the former diamond junction at Lake Mead Parkway/ SR 564 (formerly known as Lake Mead Drive) and the I-215/Bruce Woodbury Beltway. The interchange at Galleria Drive (exit 64B) was opened on November 4, 2009, resulting in the renumbering of the existing junction at Sunset Road (from exit 64 to exit 64A).

Earthquake

On May 15, 2020, the Monte Cristo Range earthquake damaged the highway in both directions from US 6 in Coaldale to SR 360 in Mineral County.

Future

US 95 is part of a proposed northwestward extension of

(I-11) from Las Vegas. The interstate highway would primarily follow the US 95 corridor through central and northwestern Nevada, extending to

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

and US 95 Alt. in Fernley near

and Sparks via Tonopah. In 2018, the

had initiated public outreach regarding its long-range planning efforts to narrow down options for the future I-11 corridor. On July 27, 2022, NDOT decided that I-11 would follow the I-515/US 93/US 95 corridor through Las Vegas and then run concurrent with US 95 to the interchange with SR 157.

Major intersections

Note:

Milepost A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...

s in Nevada reset at county lines. The start and end mileposts for each county are given in the county column.

Special routes

* U.S. Route 95 Alternate, an alternate route beginning in Schurz serving Yerington, Silver Springs and Fernley * U.S. Route 95 Business, a business route in Las Vegas * U.S. Route 95 Truck, a truck bypass of Hawthorne

References

{{State detail page browse, type=US, route=95, state=Nevada, statebefore=California, stateafter=Oregon 95 Nevada Transportation in Churchill County, Nevada Transportation in Clark County, Nevada Transportation in Esmeralda County, Nevada Transportation in Henderson, Nevada Transportation in Humboldt County, Nevada Transportation in Las Vegas Transportation in the Las Vegas Valley Transportation in Lyon County, Nevada Transportation in Mineral County, Nevada Transportation in Nye County, Nevada Transportation in Pershing County, Nevada