D is for delays on McCarran’s D concourse trams

Leila Navidi

McCarran International Airport passengers ride Tuesday on one of two new trams serving the C concourse. The D concourse trams are up next for replacement.

By Brian Eckhouse (contact)

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Leila Navidi

The D concourse trams, including the one pictured, will soon be replaced with new trams. One will go out of service beginning today and a new tram will be ready for use, airport officials expect, by NASCAR weekend.

Leila Navidi

A new tram transports passengers to and from the C concourse.

If you’re flying American, Delta or Continental airlines, you’re now advised to arrive at McCarran International Airport at least 30 minutes earlier than usual.

Starting today, one of the two trams taking travelers to and from the D concourse will be out of service. The airport is replacing the decade-old north tram, a project airport officials expect to finish in 18 days.

On-time completion of the project would allow the airport to return to dual-tram service in time for NASCAR weekend. Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosts the Sam’s Town 300 and the Shelby 427 on Feb. 28 and March 1, respectively.

Soon after, McCarran will replace the south tram. The new trams will have three cars and have a capacity of 270, similar to the existing models, which each logged a million miles, according to airport officials.

When only one tram is in use, the airport will offer shuttle service between the main terminal and the D concourse during peak periods — typically 5 to 9 a.m. Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday. Airport employees will be prohibited from taking the tram from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Friday and Sunday, when restrictions will be in effect until 11 p.m.

Airport officials anticipate a minor inconvenience for travelers, not three-hour delays as predicted by an Allegiant Air captain on a flight Sunday from Stockton, Calif. The airport has some experience with such a project: McCarran recently replaced the two trams to the C concourse.

The new C and D concourse trams, plus associated mechanical and electrical equipment, are slated to cost nearly $43 million, per a 2006 contract between the county and Bombardier Transportation, a division of Montreal-based Bombardier Inc.

Other airlines based at the D concourse include: AirTran, Alaska, JetBlue, United and Virgin America.

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Construction is omnipresent at McCarran. Besides the tram replacements, the airport has begun work on its third terminal to the east, recently completed new gates at the D concourse and is repaving one of its four runways.

McCarran decommissioned its shorter east-west runway — one of two in that orientation — Nov. 1 to replace the asphalt surface with concrete. Rosemary A. Vassiliadis, deputy director of the county Aviation Department, said concrete wears better. The airport projected the cost of resurfacing the 10,500-foot runway would be $75 million, a figure that remains on target. The runway should be operational May 1, Vassiliadis said.

Although one runway is offline, the others haven’t been terribly burdened by demand, Vassiliadis said. She recalls just one day, the first Sunday after the runway was decommissioned, in which a long line of planes awaited takeoff. Airport officials chose the winter months to resurface the runway because of relatively favorable winds. Strong southwesterly winds are more common in warmer months.

And the airport recently completed a bridge connecting the B and C concourses, allowing for easier access for connecting fliers with flights in different parts of McCarran.

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Warning to motorists heading to California via Interstate 15 today: Better leave early in the morning, or wait until after 2 p.m.

The California Transportation Department is closing the southbound lanes at the state’s border with Nevada from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to accommodate the blasting and removal of rock in Mountain Pass, just south of Primm. Inclement weather won’t prohibit blasting.

The blasting is part of an ongoing CalTrans effort to add a 12.1-mile truck-descending lane to the freeway in San Bernardino County between Bailey Road and Yates Well Road. Construction, which includes repaving, is expected to be completed in late 2010.

CalTrans officials initially planned for the weekly blasting to end in April but now say it should be completed by the end of the month.