Metro Police restricting vehicle access to the Strip starting at 5 p.m. Monday

Christopher DeVargas

Crowds watch and react to the fireworks display above the Strip on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011.

By Conor Shine (contact)

Friday, Dec. 28, 2012 | 3:59 p.m.

Local law enforcement officers will begin restricting access to the Las Vegas Strip at 5 p.m. Monday in preparation for the hundreds of thousands of revelers that will flood the boulevard to ring in the New Year, Metro Police said Friday.

Las Vegas Boulevard will be closed from Russell Road to Sahara Avenue on Monday night and early Tuesday morning due to the New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Law enforcement officers will begin closing the Interstate 15 off-ramps onto eastbound Tropicana Avenue, Flamingo Road and Spring Mountain Road at 5 p.m. and will begin clearing Las Vegas Boulevard of traffic at 6:15 p.m.

The boulevard will be completely closed to vehicular traffic and open to pedestrians starting at 6:30 p.m. and will re-open to cars at approximately 3:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

During the road closure, Metro also will be closing all moving walkways, elevators and escalators leading to or across the Strip.

Downtown, the Fremont Street Experience will close to the public at 5 p.m. and will be open to ticketed guests beginning at 6 p.m.

On Friday, Metro Police also reminded would-be partiers that metal and glass containers will be banned on the Strip and downtown from 6 p.m. Dec. 31 until 6 a.m. Jan. 1. Plastic cups and containers will be allowed.

The Strip curfew for children under 18 is from 9 p.m. Monday until 5 a.m. Tuesday unless the child is accompanied by a parent or adult legal guardian, police said.

To help lessen the congestion around the Strip, the Regional Transportation Commission is offering free rides on its buses from 6 p.m. Monday until 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The agency is offering direct routes to downtown Las Vegas from the Centennial Hills Transit Center, 7313 Grand Montecito Pkwy., and the Westcliff Transit Center, 25 S. Durango Drive, from 5 p.m. Monday until 4 a.m. Tuesday.

Many routes, including the Deuce on the Strip bus line and the Strip & Downtown Express bus line, will be detoured but continue to operate while Las Vegas Boulevard is closed.