Has Anyone Been Cited for Using the Harmon On-Off Ramps During HOV Time

From the I-15 northbound, there is a relatively new freeway exit for Harmon from the left lane only. The thing is, the only lane you can exit from is for high occupancy vehicles, which is locally defined to be two or more people. Technically, this means that if you're driving by yourself, you can't exit the freeway at Harmon. It strikes me as pretty chicken [expletive deleted] for police to ticket single-occupancy drivers for using this offramp, but who knows? Have you heard of anyone being cited for this?

This is one of those nuances that means a lot to locals, including ourselves.

The Interstate 15-Harmon Avenue "half interchange," which was part of the interminable $305 million I-15/Tropicana project, opened in late January 2024, just in time for the Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium.

Drivers access Harmon from I-15 northbound via the high occupancy vehicle lane on the far left; they enter I-15 southbound from Harmon that leads drivers to the HOV lane as well. There's no I-15 northbound access from Harmon and no Harmon access from I-15 southbound; that's why it's a half interchange.

And yes, both Harmon on-and-off ramps are under HOV restrictions between 6 and 8 a.m. and 4 and 6 p.m weekdays, then open to all traffic any hours outside of those and on weekends.

That's the facts. As for anyone being cited, we haven't heard of any. And given that those ramps are close to our office, we've used them at all hours of all days and haven't seen anyone pulled over there, including ourselves.

We do know that using the ramps as a solo driver violates HOV rules (NRS 484B.323). It's treated as a civil infraction with a typical fine around $250–$352, plus possible demerit points, though courts, especially Las Vegas Municipal Court, often reduce it significantly (e.g., to a low parking-style fine) for first-timers with clean records.

Just because we haven't heard of or seen anyone being ticketed doesn't mean it doesn't happen. The left-lane-only design of the Harmon on-off ramps makes it more conspicuous for troopers monitoring the HOV lane during applicable times.

Does anyone have any further information about this? Has anyone else seen anything at the half interchange?

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Kevin Lewis Jul-13-2026

Simple solutioin

In civilized portions of the world (e.g., other than Las Vegas) an HOV restriction ends where a lane turns into an exit lane and/or can be used as one. There are some examples of that in the SF Bay Area, where the HOV lane both offers a left-hand exit and continues onward after that exit. The signage clearly indicates that the restriction doesn't apply for drivers wishing to take the left-hand exit.

But the various makeshift afterthoughts that are the I-15 accesses between downtown and Jean aren't, shall we say, California-grade.

That Don Guy Jul-13-2026

re: simple solution

Meanwhile, in at least one other part of the SF Bay Area (up near where Richmond meets Pinole), there is an onramp to westbound I-80 that is open only to buses and carpools during both the morning and evening commute periods, and you actually have to get on eastbound 80 to the next exit if you want to head west from there.

Mark Francis Jul-13-2026

Me too...

I've used them when I'm in town and respectfully get into the express lane as late as possible for the north bound exit if I'm solo.  No problems to date.

Question of the Day - 13 July 2026

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