Ivanpah Airport land could be purchased this year

Friday, Feb. 14, 2003 | 9:54 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The 6,500 acres of federal land for the proposed Ivanpah Airport in Clark County could be purchased this year, McCarran International Airport director Randy Walker says.

An appraisal of the dry lakebed between Primm and Jean on the east side of Interstate 15 is under way, he told the Senate and Assembly transportation committees Thursday. Once the purchase is completed, an environmental impact statement will be developed and the airport could be opened by 2014, if there is a demand for service.

As part of his briefing on aviation projects in Clark County, Walker told the legislators that construction could start in May on a $120 million project to add 10 gates to McCarran International Airport's D Gates area.

The design of a consolidated rental car facility is being completed to be located south of Interstate 215 along Gillespie Road, Walker said. It will be on a 65-acre parcel owned by the airport and bids will probably be solicited this summer. Cost is estimated at $125 million.

Improvements on Terminal 3 including utility and road re-locations should be started by the end of the year or early 2004, he said.

In the long-term plan, Clark County is looking at Ivanpah, which would be able to serve 30 million to 35 million passengers a year. An air space plan has been completed and approved by the federal government. It shows the proposed airport would not adversely impact the Mohave National Preserve south of the site, and the preserve won't interfere with the airport at Jean, he said.

Assuming a "reasonable time" of five years to complete the environmental impact statement for Ivanpah, Walker said, "We would look at a projected opening date of 2014 and that assumes, of course, demand at the airport (McCarran) demands building a second airport."

Preliminary plans, Walker said, call for shifting about 5 million passengers a year from McCarran to Ivanpah when it opens and gradually increasing the numbers.

The first group of passengers would probably be charter flights, he said. This makes more sense since they are usually a homogeneous group who would be taking the same bus to the same hotel.

The thinking now, Walker said, is to serve the long-haul flights at Ivanpah. "If you're coming from Los Angeles, you don't want a 40-minute drive." But somebody coming from New York on a 4 1/2-hour flight, where it could take two hours to get to the outgoing airport, may not mind the drive into Las Vegas.

Included in the plans is the possibility of a light-rail system to transport passengers into Las Vegas. A sufficient right of way already exists for the project. He said, however, it would not be done immediately but might be justified when the airport volume is greater.

The I-15 freeway lanes from Las Vegas to the airport would be expanded. But he said he did not think the link from the airport to Las Vegas would have to be enlarged.

Walker said that before Sept. 11, 2001, McCarran served 49 percent of all the tourists coming to Las Vegas. Since then the volume of visitors flying in has fallen to about 46 percent. More people from Southern California are using I-15 to get to Southern Nevada, Walker said.