The largest public works project in Nevada’s history aims to improve critically needed access to Downtown Las Vegas, and that is a welcome relief to local businesses.
The Nevada Dept. of Transportation (NDOT) says Project Neon will widen 3.7 miles of I-15 from Sahara Ave. to the Spaghetti Bowl interchange at U.S. 95.
That stretch of road is the busiest in Nevada with about 300,000 cars traversing its length every day. That includes some 25,000 lane changes every hour, according to NDOT.
NDOT says those numbers likely will double by 2035, and that means more congestion, which would add to an already significant problem of access to Downtown Las Vegas.
Five members of a Feb. 2 panel hosted by the Downtown Vegas Alliance and featuring gaming operators in Downtown Las Vegas agreed relatively limited access to Fremont Street and the many casinos located on and around it is possibly the greatest limiting factor to future growth.
The panel was comprised of Drock Gaming founder Derek Stevens, Fifth Street Gaming CEO and Downtown Grand Chairman Seth Schorr, Plaza Hotel & Casino CEO Jonathan Jossel, El Cortez Hotel and Casino CFO Joe Woody and Fremont Hotel and Casino General Manager Jim Sullivan.
During 2016, gaming revenues in the Downtown Las Vegas market rose by 4.2 percent. That outpaced the 1 percent growth posted in all of Clark County last year.
Maintaining or increasing that revenue growth largely depends on being able to move more people in and out of the downtown area, the panel agreed.
Stevens cited increased access to Downtown Las Vegas as an important factor to future gaming and business growth there.
Stevens said he expects continued growth in downtown gaming revenues, particularly with Drock Gaming’s improvements at the Las Vegas Club and at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, and improvements at other downtown properties.
“We have a goal of bringing people downtown, Stevens said.
“Access is a critical factor,” Stevens said. “We need to be get Uber, Lyft and cabs in and out, with easy parking and access to freeways.”
With greater access, Stevens said downtown gaming operators would be able to increase growth rates next year and beyond, while attracting more people to the downtown area.
With improved downtown access a stated goal of Project Neon, NDOT plans to create a direct-connect HOV lane between U.S. 95 and I-15, which would improve commuter access to the downtown area via freeways.
The project also aims to rebuild the Charleston Avenue interchange at I-15, and extend Grand Central Parkway to Industrial Road.
Improving the Charleston interchange will help move traffic off I-15, which often backs up at the Charleston and Sahara Avenue exits.
Extending Grand Central Parkway to Industrial alleviates the bottleneck of surface roads that occurs north of the Las Vegas Strip from about Sahara to Charleston.
It also gives the many cabs, Uber and Lyft drivers an alternate route to downtown via Frank Sinatra to Industrial to Grand Central, rather than relying on the interstate, Las Vegas Boulevard or Paradise Road.
The final downtown element of Project Neon is the planned realignment of Martin Luther King Boulevard with the Charleston flyover, which would give another route into downtown from north Las Vegas and Summerlin.
NDOT started work on Project Neon on April 2016 and plans to wrap up work in 2019.
In addition to increasing access to downtown, the project’s goals are to:
- Improve safety and air quality.
- Reduce congestion and travel delays,
- Improve freeway operations.
- And create surface street connections.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, during the Downtown Vegas Alliance panel discussion, said Project Neon would have a significant impact on Downtown Las Vegas and suggested it would make construction of a proposed 65,000-seat stadium near downtown a reality.
While numerous sites are in the running stadium for the possible move of the NFL team the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas, Goodman believes this project makes Cashman Field a “no-brainer.”
Improved HOV lanes and freeway access, along with new surface street connections would handle the potential traffic for a downtown stadium location, Goodman suggested.
Whether or not a multi-purpose stadium is built at the Cashman Field site on Las Vegas Boulevard, Project Neon is poised to provide critically important increased access to the area and support continued gaming and economic growth in Downtown Las Vegas.
