In June of 2010, ground broke on the I-580/Meadowood Mall Way interchange.
More than two years later, the $21 million project is nearing completion and is expected to open by Black Friday.
Work is still being done on the bridge but it's almost complete.
Concrete is being poured and a new road is getting ready to be paved with just over four weeks until one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
"We know it's important economically for the businesses, for the customers, for the mall, for people in general, and for safety, as well," NDOT District Engineer Thor Dyson said.
Meadowood Mall Way is expected to shift traffic away from South McCarran Blvd. and South Virginia St.
With more than 55,000 cars passing through everyday, it's one of the busiest intersections in northern Nevada.
"This particular project is going to alleviate a lot of congestion in that area, as well as traffic accidents and reduce cars just sitting there idly," Dyson said.
Because of construction, the ramps on the north side of Neil Road have been closed for the last two months.
They will re-open as frontage roads, with the southbound off-ramp and the northbound on-ramp going in at Meadowood Mall Way.
To get this far, crews had to build a bridge without closing down traffic lanes on I-580, a stretch of freeway that has 96,000 cars in both directions, daily.
"We're all excited to be at this point," Dyson said. "It's been two years in the making."
But there is still lots of work left, with crews hoping to be finished before the ice and snow affects the road.
"The contractor's not complete," Dyson said. "They're behind schedule. We're working with them to do everything humanly possible to have this thing open."
This is one of three large projects set to wrap up next month.
The Moana Widening Project is supposed to be done in a few weeks, followed by the Diverging Diamond Interchange, also on Moana Lane.
Written by Paul Nelson
