Tropicana – Las Vegas Boulevard Intersection
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The Tropicana – Las Vegas Boulevard intersection is a major
intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...
on the
Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits ...
(
Tropicana Avenue Tropicana Avenue is a major east–west section line arterial in the Las Vegas area. The road is named after the former Tropicana Las Vegas which was located on Las Vegas Boulevard where it intersects with Tropicana Avenue. Part of it is s ...
and
Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas Boulevard is a major road in Clark County, Nevada, Clark County, Nevada, United States, best known for the Las Vegas Strip portion of the road and its casinos. Formerly carrying U.S. Route 91 in Nevada, U.S. Route 91 (US 91), wh ...
) in
Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the ...
, United States, and is noteworthy for several reasons. It was the first intersection in Las Vegas completely closed to street level pedestrian traffic and its four corners are home to three major
resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...
s:
Excalibur Hotel and Casino Excalibur Hotel and Casino is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. The resort features a medieval castle theme and is named after King ...
,
New York-New York Hotel and Casino New York-New York Hotel and Casino is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International, and is designed to evoke New York City in Architecture of ...
and
MGM Grand Las Vegas The MGM Grand Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. The resort was developed by Kirk Kerkorian through his company, MGM Grand ...
—the latter has 5,044 rooms and was once the largest hotel in the world. The fourth corner was home to Tropicana, which Tropicana Avenue is named after; it closed on April 2, 2024, and was demolished by implosion on October 9 to make way for a new Bally’s Las Vegas and a new baseball stadium for the The Athletics after they relocate to Las Vegas. The resorts at the four corners had a total of 12,536 hotel rooms as of 2016. Tropicana Avenue is also the main local street into
Harry Reid International Airport Harry Reid International Airport , formerly known as McCarran International Airport, is the primary international airport serving the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is located south of downtown Las Vega ...
and the first major exit from
I-15 I15 may refer to: * Interstate 15, a north–south Interstate Highway in the United States of America * Polikarpov I-15, a Soviet fighter aircraft * I15 (band), a band * , of the Imperial Japanese Navy * Älvsborg Regiment The Älvsborg Regiment ...
to the Strip for traffic heading north from the
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
areas. The heavy local traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard, which is listed as a
National Scenic Byway A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...
All-American Road, further adds to the number of vehicles in this area, making the intersection one of the busiest in the nation.


History

After much study,
Clark County Clark County may refer to: *Clark County, Arkansas *Clark County, Idaho *Clark County, Illinois *Clark County, Indiana *Clark County, Kansas *Clark County, Kentucky *Clark County, Missouri *Clark County, Nevada, containing Las Vegas *Clark County, ...
officials decided that the only solution to reducing crashes at this intersection that would improve pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow would be to separate the vehicles and pedestrians. Tunnels were considered, but being enclosed and underground posed extra security risks. Thus, uncovered walkways over the streets, using
escalators An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizon ...
and
elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...
s for access, was selected as the best solution. Construction began in 1993 on four, open air
pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, by wheelchair or with other mobility aids. Streets and roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic, called the '' sidewalk'' in North American English, the ''pavement'' in British En ...
walkway In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails. '' The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. ...
s, one bridging each leg of the intersection, with platforms at the ends providing elevator and escalator access between the street and walkway level. The project included
barricade Barricade (from the French ''barrique'' - 'barrel') is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denotes ...
s between the sidewalks and streets in the vicinity of the intersection, eliminating the at-grade crosswalks. In 2016 and 2017, the walkways received aesthetic improvements and the escalators were replaced.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection Transportation in the Las Vegas Valley Pedestrian bridges in the United States Las Vegas Strip Buildings and structures in Clark County, Nevada