Raiders Fans Will Be Shown the Way to Allegiant Stadium
Even though you can see 1.9-billion Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas from miles away on the floor of the Mojave Desert, officials want to make sure fans can navigate their way to the new home of the Raiders.
There will be 10 more dynamic messaging signs, known as active traffic management signs, installed on I-15 between Russell Road and the 215 Beltway. Five signs will be installed on the north and five south sides of the highway.
“The new sign technology will help better manage heavy traffic flows around the T-Mobile Arena and future Allegiant Stadium, especially during concerts, games, and special events,” Tony Illia, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Transportation, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“They will greatly benefit travel through the resort corridor, specifically aiding non-commuter drivers and visitors unfamiliar with the area.”
Since the Raiders’ two preseason games have been canceled along with all the others in the NFL, the signs should all be in place when the Silver and Black play for the first time at Allegiant Stadium against the New Orleans Saints on Monday night, Sept. 21.
Of course, it has not been decided yet how many—if any fans—will be allowed inside the state-of-the-art, 65,000-seat domed stadium this season because of Coronavirus pandemic.
But any who are allowed will be shown the way.
The Department of Transportation installed the first 42 dynamic messaging signs earlier this year and as part of $1-billion Project Neon.
The dynamic traffic management signs display for drivers real-time traffic information including lane closures, crashes, and backups. They also can change the posted speed limit as needed, depending on the flow of traffic.
Still ahead is a planned $200-million upgrade of the Tropicana Avenue-Interstate 15 interchange, which will help fans get to and from Allegiant Stadium and T-Mobile Arena.
The project is planned to get underway in December of 2021 and will be the first major upgrade to the Tropicana-Interstate 15 interchange since it was constructed during the 1960s.
The construction is expected to take at least 26 months, and the Department of Transportation hopes it will be completed in the middle of 2024, in time for the Raiders’ fifth season in Allegiant Stadium.
The blueprint of the project includes I-15 between Russell and Flamingo Roads and Tropicana Avenue between Las Vegas Boulevard and Valley View Boulevard.
Plans call for reconstructing the interchange, giving it a diamond on-ramp and off-ramp configuration, and a flyover at Tropicana. Dean Martin Drive will be reconfigured to go underneath the Tropicana freeway ramps, removing a traffic signal at the intersection near the In-N-Out Burger restaurant.
Circular roads will be added to maintain access to the northwest and southwest quadrants of the freeway, and sidewalks on Tropicana over I-15 will be widened from 5-to-10 feet for anyone walking to games from nearby hotels or parking lots.
And a new pedestrian walkway will be constructed from the north side of Tropicana down to Frank Sinatra Drive.
In addition, a $5.9 million, two-mile-long upgrade of Jones Avenue began on July 6, but is not expected to be completed until January.
A small section of the street right outside Allegiant Stadium was recently renamed Al Davis Drive after the legendary Raiders owner, which should make long-time fans of the Silver and Black feel right at home driving to games in Las Vegas.
Hopefully, for the Raiders, the most efficient drives will be led inside Allegiant Stadium by quarterback Derek Carr.
Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
Want the latest breaking Las Vegas Raiders news delivered straight to your email for FREE? Sign up for the DAILY Raiders Nation newsletter when you CLICK THE FOLLOW button on the main page. Don't miss any of the latest up to the second updates for your Las Vegas Raiders when you follow on Twitter @HondoCarpenter
