State Route 582 (SR 582) is a major 15.392-mile-long (24.771 km) highway in the Las Vegas Valley. The highway is the former route of U.S. Route 93 (US 93) and US 95 (and, historically, US 466) before they were moved to the current freeway alignment shared with Interstate 11 (I-11) formerly Interstate 515 (I-515). Known primarily as Boulder Highway, the route connects Downtown Las Vegas with Henderson and (now indirectly) Boulder City to the southeast.
Present-day SR 582 officially begins at the I-11/US 93/US 95 interchange at Wagonwheel Drive in Henderson, although the highway itself actually starts at the intersection of Boulder Highway and Wagonwheel Drive just east of the interchange. From its southern terminus, SR 582 quickly transitions to an urban divided highway lined with businesses as it heads northwest through Henderson.[2]
North of the Boulder Strip area, SR 582 changes names from Boulder Highway to Fremont Street as it crosses the Las Vegas city limits at Sahara Avenue. Just south of Charleston Boulevard (SR 159), Fremont Street transitions from divided highway to a multi-lane arterial. SR 582 reaches its northern terminus at the "Five-Points" intersection with Charleston Boulevard (SR 159) and Eastern Avenue. North from here, Fremont Street continues beyond the state highway terminus, curving slightly more westward as it heads into Downtown Las Vegas.[2]
History
Boulder Highway was constructed in 1931,[4] and carried SR 5 from 1932[5] to 1939.[6] It later carried US 93, US 95, and US 466 from near Boulder City through Henderson and into downtown Las Vegas.[7] The US 466 designation was later removed in 1971.[8][9] During the late 1980s, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) worked to extend the US 95 (Oran K. Gragson Expressway) southeast from downtown to Henderson.[10][11] As portions of the freeway opened, the US 93 and US 95 designations were gradually relocated from Fremont Street and Boulder Highway, relegating the highway to state route status.[12] In 1995, the freeway was completed to the Wagonwheel interchange and US 93 and US 95 had been completely removed from SR 582.[13]
In Downtown Las Vegas, Fremont Street originally extended further west to terminate at Main Street (former US 91, later SR 601). In September 1994, Fremont Street west of Las Vegas Boulevard was permanently closed to vehicular traffic to construct the Fremont Street Experience, an outdoor pedestrian mall and light show attraction. This section of SR 582 ceased to be maintained by Nevada DOT around this time.[14]
In 2007, the city of Las Vegas completed the Fremont East district, a reconstruction of Fremont Street between Las Vegas Boulevard and Eighth Street designed to "stir memories of old Las Vegas" and promote active nightlife.[15] Completion of this project moved the northern terminus of SR 582 southward to Eighth Street.[16]
NDOT removed the portion of SR 582 between Charleston Boulevard and Eighth Street from its maintenance logs by the beginning of 2019,[1] and had begun the process of transferring ownership of that section of roadway to the City of Las Vegas.[17]
^1932 Map of Nevada(PDF) (Map). Cartography by Nevada Department of Highways. Nevada Department of Highways. 1932. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
^1939 Map of Nevada(PDF) (Map). Cartography by Nevada Department of Highways. Nevada Department of Highways. 1939. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
^1951 Map of Nevada(PDF) (Map). Cartography by Nevada Department of Highways. Nevada Department of Highways. 1951. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
^1970–71 Map of Nevada(PDF) (Map). Cartography by Nevada Department of Highways. Nevada Department of Highways. 1970. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
^1972 Map of Nevada(PDF) (Map). Cartography by Nevada Department of Highways. Nevada Department of Highways. 1972. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
^1985–86 Map of Nevada(PDF) (Map). Cartography by Nevada Department of Transportation. Nevada Department of Transportation. 1985. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 29, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
^1987–88 Map of Nevada(PDF) (Map). Cartography by Nevada Department of Transportation. Nevada Department of Transportation. 1987. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 29, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
^1991–92 Map of Nevada(PDF) (Map). Cartography by Nevada Department of Transportation. Nevada Department of Transportation. 1991. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
^1995–96 Map of Nevada(PDF) (Map). Cartography by Nevada Department of Transportation. Nevada Department of Transportation. 1995. Archived from the original(PDF) on May 29, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.