Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection

The Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection on the Las Vegas Strip (Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard), 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 four major resorts: Excalibur Hotel and Casino, Tropicana Resort & Casino, New York-New York Hotel & Casino and MGM Grand Las Vegas — the latter being the largest hotel in the world, with 5,044 rooms. The resorts at the four corners have a total of 12,890 hotel rooms as of 2004.

Tropicana Avenue is also the main local street into McCarran International Airport and the first major exit from I-15 to the Strip for traffic heading north from the Los Angeles, California and San Diego, California areas. The heavy local traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard, which is listed as a National Scenic Byway 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 officials decided that the only solution to reducing accidents 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, so a solution of uncovered walkways over the streets, using escalators and elevators for access, was selected as the best solution.

An elevated pedestrian open air walkway was constructed across each of the streets instead of the normal crosswalks. Platforms at the ends of the walkways provide elevator and escalator access between the street and walkway level. The final step was to barricade the sidewalks from the roads in the vicinity of the intersection.

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