Courtesy Google Maps
Motorists will see traffic delays along Tropicana Avenue beginning Monday and continuing into September. Tropicana is seen here in the center, with Interstate 15 and the Las Vegas Strip on the left extending to Paradise Road on the right, with the Thomas & Mack Center visible in the upper-right and McCarran International Airport to the south.
Friday, March 13, 2009 | 10:35 a.m.
Crews installing new underground utility lines beneath Tropicana Avenue will cause traffic delays beginning Monday through September, the Clark County Department of Aviation says.
The utility improvements are necessary to provide better electrical service from NV Energy substations to McCarran International Airport's $2.4 billion Terminal 3 project, which is scheduled to open in mid 2012, says Chris Jones, a spokesman for the aviation department.
Affected areas are located within a 1.6-mile stretch of Tropicana that begins east of Interstate 15, behind New York-New York hotel and casino, and ends near the intersection of Tropicana and Paradise Road.
Lane restrictions will affect both eastbound and westbound lanes. Other traffic control measures will be in place as work progresses near Tropicana's center median.
A traffic plan approved by the Nevada Department of Transportation requires that at least two lanes remain open in each direction throughout the project. Work crews must maintain access for emergency vehicles, pedestrians and nearby businesses. Roadside alert signs will help direct drivers.
Traffic control measures will be in place around the clock so workers can dig trenches, install conduit, backfill trenches and repair disrupted pavement. When possible, drivers are encouraged to use an alternate route between McCarran and Las Vegas Boulevard South, the Las Vegas Strip, to avoid delays from this construction.
The the nation's seventh busiest airport was directed to build a new permanent power connection linking McCarran with a new NV Energy substation west of the Strip along Frank Sinatra Drive after officials considered several alternatives. The airport is now powered by other substations that no longer have enough capacity to serve McCarran's future needs.
When Terminal 3 is complete -- funded by airport revenue, not tax dollars -- the airport can reach its sustainable capacity of 53 million arriving and departing passengers per year.
The Tropicana utility work will support at least 50 jobs for employees of the Harber Company and its subcontractors during this utility project.
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