There has been an idea floating around since the NFL Draft that the Las Vegas Strip should be closed to vehicular traffic permanently. That was done for the special event, but doing this permanently is unfeasible. It would make getting to several resorts on the the Las Vegas Strip problematic.
I thought the discussion ended after the NFL Draft was forgotten. However, it recently returned. Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom tweeted this while commenting on holiday weekend traffic:
These are some reasons why this idea is impossible:
Several Las Vegas Strip properties would lose parking or direct access
The biggest reason that closing the Las Vegas Strip to cars is not viable is that several resorts would lose significant if not entire access to a public road. Casino Royale and the Jockey Club would become entirely landlocked. The public parking decks at Aria, Bellagio and Wynn would be impossible to access.
The Encore parking deck would require a connection with Genting Blvd. This would also necessitate a pedestrian bridge over that easement, or require pedestrians to cross the street, which contradicts the entire point of closing Las Vegas Blvd to cars.
Alternatively, there could be a connection to the Desert Inn tunnel. There is already a right turn exit there. However, now there would be a need for a new traffic signal to accommodate all the additional traffic. Even if this worked, it would annoy locals, and the Encore traffic would need to drive around in a circle to get anywhere.
The Wynn front entrance would require a new design that would also present the same issue. Its parking deck is not aligned with Fashion Show Mall. It would be landlocked without major, costly changes.
The main entry point for Venetian and Palazzo guests would be blocked off. All visitors arriving by cab and rideshare would be forced to use the parking deck entrance on Koval Ln, which it shares with Harrah’s.
I cannot come up with any solution for the Aria and Bellagio parking decks. The public parking decks are blocked from Frank Sinatra Drive by buildings.
Paris would be forced to bring its entire traffic in from either the Bally’s side entrance on Flamingo, requiring it to go through the parking deck, or come up Audrie Street from Harmon Avenue, where there is no interstate exit.
Parallel roads can’t handle additional traffic, have no room for widening
There are two roads that would be forced to take on substantially more traffic if Las Vegas Blvd was closed. Neither has the capacity for it, or the space for widening.
Frank Sinatra Drive runs behind the west side of the Strip. Several resorts have back parking deck entrances along this road, including Caesars Palace, Park MGM, New York-New York, Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay.
It is difficult to access Sinatra from places other than Strip casinos. It ends at Russell Road, just south of Mandalay Bay. Sinatra begins at its intersection with Sammy David Jr., also known as Industrial, and Dean Martin. Twain ends where these three roads intersect. Flamingo and Tropicana have bridges over Sinatra with no connection.
The Twain/Davis/Martin/Sinatra intersection’s efficiency is already burdened by Interstate 15 above it. None of it can be feasibly widened because of the bridges surrounding it. The intersection at Davis/Sinatra would need to be reconfigured so that the alignment is Davis/Sinatra like it once was, not the current Davis/Martin design.
Frank Sinatra Drive already has poor interstate access
There are two ways to get to Frank Sinatra Drive from Interstate 15. One is to get off at Russell Road from either direction. The other is only available for northbound traffic.
That northbound ramp ends across from T-Mobile Arena. Imagine coming in from California around the time an event starts, and having this be the only way to get to any of these resorts.
There is no space to build more exits or widen Sinatra due to the highway’s close proximity. There is no way to build a flyover from Interstate 15 southbound, Flamingo or Tropicana. This would cause massive traffic issues on Dean Martin Drive, which runs along the west side of the interstate and connects with Sinatra at Davis.
Southbound interstate traffic headed to Aria, Bellagio, Caesars Palace and Cosmopolitan would need to exit at Flamingo Road, turn around, and head northbound on Dean Martin by either using Hotel Rio Drive or Twain. Imagine the bottleneck at Martin’s intersections with Jerry Lee Lewis, Hotel Rio, Twain, and Sinatra/Davis.
The intersection where Twain, Davis, Sinatra and Martin come together would become one of the most disastrous in the country as it would essentially carry what Las Vegas Blvd used to, in addition to vehicles that use it today. Drivers trying to get back to Interstate 15 would need to take Sinatra all the way to Russell Road, take Dean Martin around to Flamingo Road, or Industrial/Davis to Spring Mountain Road or Sahara Avenue.
Koval Lane is not suitable to replace Las Vegas Blvd
Koval Lane is the road to the east of the Las Vegas Strip that would take much of the north/south traffic in a scenario where Las Vegas Blvd closed. There are a few problems here.
One is that trying to realign Koval Ln with Las Vegas Blvd is impossible south of Tropicana Avenue because of the airport. Another is that widening Koval presents a dilemma due to several parking decks that approach the sidewalks.
Koval Lane ends at Sands Avenue. It can’t be expanded north due to Wynn Resort and its golf club. This forces the traffic over to Paradise, which is already a mess of an intersection at Sands. The convention center entrance just north of there is difficult to maneuver during major events now. Imagine what happens when its traffic grows exponentially.
Employee access to Strip casinos would become clogged with tourist traffic
Davis and Sinatra offer employees on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip easy access to the properties. Employee parking decks have separate entrances from public ones in most cases. If Sinatra replaced Las Vegas Blvd, and there was some way to resolve the Aria/Bellagio parking deck issues, it would become a nightmare for employees.
Their employee entrances would become main public entrances. The traffic jams, especially during peak hours, could add an hour to the commute to and from work on weekends. The construction period would be nightmarish for them, too.
Taxis and rideshares would also have major issues. Imagine trying to take someone to Venetian from Aria. That would require going down to Spring Mountain on Davis, going across the Strip to Sands, to Koval, to the back side of Venetian. That is a 1.5-mile drive now of about 12 minutes. This becomes a 30-minute cab ride in moderate traffic. That is about how long it would take to walk that distance.
I get that encouraging walking is one of the points. However, nobody going to a dinner reservation, convention or show is going to walk that. And it is over 100 degrees during the day for about one-third of the year.
Airport access would become problematic
Closing Las Vegas Blvd would create a situation where cabs and rideshares tunneling people to the Beltway becomes the answer for many properties. Any casino on the west side of the Strip, with possible exceptions around Tropicana Avenue, becomes easier to access by taking I-15 and getting off at either Russell or Frank Sinatra. This is more expensive for our tourists while adding little value to the drivers forced to deal with the new traffic designs.
What can be done?
It is reasonable to say that pedestrian safety on the Las Vegas Strip is a top priority. The bollards are a great start. New pedestrian walkways are getting planned and funded.
There are several sidewalk points on the strip that do not meet capacity. One will probably be resolved with new development between MGM Grand and Planet Hollywood. Another is between Paris and Bally’s. Some areas on that side of the Strip north of Flamingo are also a problem, like at Casino Royale.
One solution is to widen the sidewalks. This can be done in a few ways. Removing the right lane in these sections is the cheapest, but far from the best. Las Vegas Blvd could be moved about 10 or 15 feet west in these sections where there is more undeveloped land and sidewalk. This would basically move excess sidewalk capacity from one side of the road and put it on the other. This idea is probably prohibitively expensive and would bring opposition from the property owners that developed large sidewalks for their customers as part of the planning and zoning process.
The discussion is pointless without an airport train
The Las Vegas Monorail was a complete failure. Not only was it built in an impractical place, it does not connect with the airport or downtown Las Vegas.
Eventually, somebody will come along with a light rail idea that will solve this problem. By then, some of the properties that are landlocked could be redeveloped or at least have time to figure out a solution. Until that time comes, any discussion that involves closing the Las Vegas Strip to traffic is just a dream.
