The Big Squeeze is about to make a shift and tighten its grip on downtown Las Vegas traffic into the start of 2018.

Construction on the ramp connecting southbound U.S. Highway 95 to northbound Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Erik Verduzco Las Vegas Review-Journal @Erik_Verduzco

Construction on the ramp connecting southbound U.S. Highway 95 to northbound Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Erik Verduzco Las Vegas Review-Journal @Erik_Verduzco

Construction on the ramp connecting southbound U.S. Highway 95 to northbound Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Erik Verduzco Las Vegas Review-Journal @Erik_Verduzco

Construction on the ramp connecting southbound U.S. Highway 95 to northbound Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Erik Verduzco Las Vegas Review-Journal @Erik_Verduzco

Construction on the ramp connecting southbound U.S. Highway 95 to northbound Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Erik Verduzco Las Vegas Review-Journal @Erik_Verduzco

Construction on the ramp connecting southbound U.S. Highway 95 to northbound Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Erik Verduzco Las Vegas Review-Journal @Erik_Verduzco

Construction on the ramp connecting southbound U.S. Highway 95 to northbound Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Erik Verduzco Las Vegas Review-Journal @Erik_Verduzco

Construction on the ramp connecting southbound U.S. Highway 95 to northbound Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Erik Verduzco Las Vegas Review-Journal @Erik_Verduzco

Construction on the ramp connecting southbound U.S. Highway 95 to northbound Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Erik Verduzco Las Vegas Review-Journal @Erik_Verduzco

Construction on the ramp connecting southbound U.S. Highway 95 to northbound Interstate 15 in Las Vegas, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Erik Verduzco Las Vegas Review-Journal @Erik_Verduzco

The Big Squeeze is about to make a shift and tighten its grip on downtown Las Vegas traffic into the start of 2018.

The ramp connecting southbound U.S. Highway 95 to northbound Interstate 15 will close from 6 a.m. Monday until January as crews build a half-mile long carpool ramp through the Spaghetti Bowl freeway interchange, the Nevada Department of Transportation said.

As a detour, motorists should exit northbound Martin Luther King Boulevard, then head east on Washington Avenue or Lake Mead Boulevard to access I-15.

Additionally, U.S. 95 will still be narrowed to two travel lanes in each direction, but traffic will slide over to the north side of the freeway between Rancho Drive to just east of I- 15, NDOT spokesman Tony Illia said.

Crews will rehabilitate about a mile of pavement that was last improved 25 years ago, while also building an 81-foot-tall flyover ramp for high-occupancy vehicles, Illia said.

When completed, the new carpool ramp will have one lane for drivers headed from southbound U.S. 95 to southbound I-15 and another connecting northbound I-15 to northbound U.S. 95. The two-way concrete ramp will be accessible from the center lane of both freeways.

The work falls under the larger umbrella of Project Neon, a $1 billion effort to redesign and add traffic lanes along I-15 from the U.S. 95 interchange to Sahara Avenue by fall 2019.

The first phase, known as “Carnado,” lasted for five months and was followed by “The Big Squeeze” in March. A third, yet-to-be-named closure is anticipated in 2018.

By time work wraps up on Project Neon in July 2019, Las Vegas will have 22 consecutive miles of carpool lanes between I-15 and U.S. 95, requiring at least two people per vehicle.

“Project Neon is already 42 percent complete after a little over a year of construction,” Illia said. “As it stands, things remain on budget and on schedule.”

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.