The Las Vegas Convention Center’s underground people mover system, which is nearing completion, has yet to ferry a single tradeshow attendee across the 200-acre campus.
Now, Elon Musk’s Boring Co. is looking to bring the project to the Las Vegas resort corridor, whisking a portion of the market’s usual approximately 43 million annual visitors along a planned 20-mile underground system.
LVCVA CEO Steve Hill told the convention authority’s board Tuesday that Musk’s tunneling company had submitted a special use permit application to the City of Las Vegas and intends to file a land use/design review application in Clark County.
Hill said the process covers the initial steps necessary to construct the underground system across Las Vegas, which encompasses the Strip, downtown, Allegiant Stadium, and, potentially, McCarran International Airport.
“They are hopeful to have the approvals by the end of the year, with construction beginning in the first quarter,” Hill told CDC Gaming in an interview following the LVCVA meeting. He said Boring Co. has already accomplished some of the initial planning for the project, which has been dubbed “The Vegas Loop.”
The potential Vegas Loop map/via LVCVA
Hill said the Loop, a first-of-its-kind transportation solution for a tourist destination, could reduce traffic congestion throughout the Las Vegas resort corridor.
“It ties everybody’s parking garages together and, I hope, eliminates the need to build more parking garages,” Hill said.
The first step of the system will be the completion in January of the $52 million Convention Center Loop, which connects the 3.2 million square foot complex with the $980 million West Hall expansion across Paradise Road and along the Strip. The development will be completed in December. Riders travel underneath Paradise Road between both campuses in less than two minutes in specially designed Tesla vehicles.
The cost of the Vegas Loop hasn’t been determined. The Boring Co. will pay for the development and construction and make its money back through fares paid by users of the system.
Upon completion, if all goes to plan, the Loop will connect nearly 50 different locations along the Strip and in downtown, as well as several off-Strip properties to the west and the $2 billion Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, to the south. The Las Vegas Stadium Authority, which oversees the 65,000-seat facility, is expected to approve a land-use application with the Boring Co. on Thursday.
Hill said the map could change as construction evolves. The properties have all signed land-use applications with Boring Co. If the resorts or properties want a station for the people mover system, they would be responsible for the costs.
He said the value for the stadium is in the reduced amount of travel time needed to reach the stadium from the resort corridor – from 20 minutes down to four or five. Hill also envisions local residents “parking at the convention center if there isn’t an event” at the facility and utilizing the Vegas Loop to get to Allegiant Stadium.
McCarran International Airport is still in the conceptual phase, Hill said, give the number of stakeholders that would need to sign off on the land use agreement, including the Clark County Department of Aviation, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the airlines.
As for timing, Hill said construction could go quicker depending on what the Boring Co. finds in its evaluation process of the route. He said the machine that dug the Convention Center tunnel is being retired and replaced by a newer, faster, and more powerful drill.
Boring Co. is currently in the planning stages of taking the Loop from the Convention Center to both Wynn Las Vegas and the under-construction Resorts World Las Vegas, which opens next summer.
Musk has said that taking transportation underground would solve traffic gridlock and that building underground has several advantages, as tunnels are structurally safe, weatherproof, noise-free, and can meet growing capacity by easily adding multiple levels.
“We are very excited about the future of Loop transportation in Las Vegas and are grateful for the enthusiasm shown by Clark County, the city of Las Vegas, the LVCVA, the resorts, and attractions,” Vegas Loop President Steve Davis said in a statement.
Hill said Vegas Loop is being envisioned as a model for other cities.
“The Vegas Loop will be a game-changer for our visitors seeking to quickly access world-class attractions and resorts throughout the destination in a fun and convenient way,” Hill said.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
