Construction adds new twist to annual Comdex gridlock

Friday, Nov. 10, 2000 | 11:10 a.m.

A key road near the Las Vegas Convention Center is scheduled to close late at night next week, but it shouldn't affect Comdex traffic.

Desert Inn Road will be closed between Paradise Road and Swenson Street while construction crews position steel girders for the Convention Center expansion project. The road is authorized to be closed intermittently between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., Sunday through Thursday.

Comdex, the largest convention hosted by Las Vegas every year with an expected 200,000 attendees, begins Sunday with a keynote address by Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates. A trade show that features more than 1 million square feet of exhibits at the Convention Center, the Las Vegas Hilton and the Sands Expo Center begins at 10:30 a.m. Monday. Some Comdex seminars and the Gates speech are scheduled at the MGM Grand.

In a touch of irony, the Desert Inn Road closures are scheduled to begin the week of the opening of one of the shows that may benefit most from the construction of the $150 million addition.

Even with three venues sharing the trade show, temporary tent structures have been erected in the parking lot of the Convention Center to handle some exhibit overflow and some administrative functions of the show.

Tom Smith, vice president of facilities for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said the new addition isn't expected to be ready for the 2001 Comdex show. It's targeted to open in January 2002, in time for that year's Winter Consumer Electronics Show.

When it does open, it will have two floors for trade shows and a total of more than 3.2 million square feet.

Smith said the Convention Center is ready for the arrival of thousands of high-tech buyers and sellers that the LVCVA says are expected to produce a nongaming economic impact of $255 million on the city.

"Every (Comdex) show has a new twist," said Smith. "This year, we're working around the construction of the expansion."

Although Desert Inn will be closed at night and construction crews will work during the convention, the roads buses use to deliver people to the front of the Convention Center will be open during the show.

A network of shuttle buses operates between the hotels and the convention sites as well as between the venue sites at most major conventions.

Smith said the taxi ingress and egress will remain the same, with cabs routed to the front of the center at the Paradise Road-Convention Center Drive access. The Taxicab Authority of Nevada has authorized all cab companies to use every vehicle in their fleets during the heart of the show. That means more than 1,600 cabs could be on the streets at once when Comdex is at its peak.

Other street work that could disrupt traffic also is scheduled on Desert Inn east of the convention center next week. Bobby Shelton of the Clark County Public Works Department said Desert Inn is being restriped to place three travel lanes in each direction on Desert Inn between Swenson Street and Mojave Road.

Shelton said during the five-week project, which will be worked on during evening hours, lanes will be restricted to one or two lanes. Shelton said the road generally doesn't affect convention traffic, but commuters who use Desert Inn may want to avoid the street because of the project and the heavier-than-normal convention traffic.

At the Sands Expo Center, officials say they, too, are prepared for a big Comdex turnout.

Mike French, senior vice president of operations for the Venetian hotel-casino, whose company operates the private convention center, said there is no roadwork under way in the vicinity of the property that would disrupt traffic.

French said the only major difference in preparation for this convention and other shows is that hotel security may monitor the parking garages a little closer to assure that hotel guests -- not conventioneers -- park there.

Parking is an issue for many of the properties close to the convention sites and some hotels have instituted special policies to make sure their guests are accommodated. At the Las Vegas Hilton, for example, parking in lots and garages that normally is free will cost $20. But hotel guests and people with Hilton slot club cards are exempt from the charge.

The Convention Center's Gold Lot, on the northwest corner of Paradise Road and Convention Center Drive, charges $5 to park.

Smith said most convention guests feel the parking fee is a bargain, since other convention centers across the country charge between $8 and $11 a day to park their cars near their facilities.