Las Vegas Sun

February 12, 2012

Currently: 55° | Complete forecast | Log in

Airport tunnel lane closures scheduled this week

By Kyle B. Hansen (contact)

Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 | 4:08 p.m.

Click to enlarge photo

Tiffany Brown

Construction is under way on Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport. It will have 14 gates, six capable of handling international arrivals and departures.

Airport tunnel

Sun Coverage

Sun Coverage

Travelers flying in or out of McCarran International Airport shouldn’t have to worry about extra delays at the airport tunnel over the Labor Day weekend, but until Friday, motorists who use the tunnel might want to find an alternative route.

Extra lane closures and detours near the tunnel are expected Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, the airport announced.

The closures and detours will begin each night about 7 p.m. and are expected to end by 5 a.m.

Motorists will still be able to use the tunnel to access the airport terminals and to get to Tropicana Avenue, but all northbound traffic could see delays in different locations due to construction.

After the closures end Friday morning, crews will take a break until Tuesday morning for the holiday weekend. Work on the roads near the tunnel should be finished by the end of September, airport officials said.

“The good news is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. The bad news it will take a few more evenings of inconvenience before we finally reach our intended destination,” said Randall H. Walker, the county’s director of aviation.

McCarran has been working on the roads just north of the tunnel, which connects the airport to the Las Vegas Beltway, in preparation for the opening of the airport’s Terminal 3 in 2012.

One northbound lane in the tunnel has been closed for nearly a year.

The tunnel is a popular shortcut for locals to access the east side of the resort corridor and UNLV without driving on Interstate 15 or Las Vegas Boulevard.

But those two roads might be better routes during the nighttime closures. Motorists can also use Frank Sinatra Drive or Eastern Avenue to get around the airport without taking the tunnel.

Travelers going to McCarran still will be able to access the terminals via the tunnel, but it might be faster to take Paradise Road south of Tropicana Avenue.

Discussion: comments so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.

Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.

No trusted comments have been posted.

Post a comment

Commenting requires registration.

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.

If you would like to submit your comment as a letter to the editor, you may submit it here.

Most Popular

  • Viewed
  • Discussed
  • E-mailed
  • Facebook