NFL releases new transportation, security plans as Las Vegas Super Bowl footprint becomes defined
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Allegiant Stadium is preparing for its closeup as the National Football League dresses it with pinks and purples, the creative theme of Super Bowl LVIII. Much else around the stadium district is changing too as plans drafted over the past two years start to define the big game’s physical footprint.
That definition became clearer during Tuesday’s Clark County Board of Commissioners meeting, where NFL officials took a “deeper dive” – as NFL Event Operations Senior Director Katie Keenan called it – of the next two weeks of construction. A week-worth of events in and around the campus begin immediately afterward.
“We’ve got our team on site,” Keenan said to commissioners, speaking about the build-out of hospitality structures and broadcast operation spaces in the once-empty parking lots of Allegiant Stadium that began last week.
Per the game’s high-security risk rating by the Department of Homeland Security, the football giant is required to establish a 300-foot security perimeter around the stadium that will bring significant access changes to it. The perimeter begins on the eastern portion of I-15 on Hacienda and spans to Polaris and Procyon to the west and Russel to the south.
A vehicle and cargo inspection system (VACIS) that will scan any vehicle attempting to access Allegiant Stadium after the February 3 lockdown of the security perimeter. (NFL) Renderings of the 300-foot federally-required security perimeter around Allegiant Campus. (NFL) NFL contractors installing hospitality tents within the Allegiant Stadium parking lot Tuesday. (KLAS)
“(Spectator security) screening will happen across the Hacienda bridge, and that screening process is a little bit longer and obviously further than out than what you’d see at a normal game,” Keenan said.
But the footprint spans far beyond the 300-foot perimeter. Clark County Public Works said several proposed road closures for game week outside of there are in the process of receiving proper approval, which may not come until directly before they need to be closed.
“The work is going up until the week of Super Bowl,” Director Denis Cederburg said, addressing commissioners. “It’s all under permits with traffic control plans and encroachment permits.”
Once a campus lockdown initiates on February 3, Super Bowl LVIII Security Lead David McCain said any vehicle attempting to enter the property will be scanned by an X-ray roughly a mile away from the stadium. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is providing a Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System to do so.
“Once they’re screened and the driver is checked out, Nevada Highway Patrol will escort that vehicle to the campus,” McCain said, addressing commissioners.
This will be amid hundreds of shuttles, black cars, charter buses, and rideshare vehicles expected to flock to the campus – or as close as they can get to it – starting as early as 3 a.m. on game day, Keenan said. The transportation company assisting with staff and NFL operator transportation, SP+ Gameday, adds that those drivers will be directed to drop passengers off in areas that are not commonly utilized during typical in-season games.
“We’ll have over 240 busses supporting our partners, NFL friends and family, et cetera. 100 plus media shuttles for media and others,” he said. “In total, we’ll have over 260 busses that will help us move a population of 8,000 staff from several locations.”
Despite the list of obstacles, county leaders say access will be maintained to the roughly 800 businesses situated within the stadium district for those employees. Commissioner Michael Naft, who oversees the county district Allegiant Stadium is in and partook in multiple meetings with these businesses in recent weeks, said that may come in the form of passes that police use to allow access to restricted areas or signage with specific instructions instead.
“I think we have to be transparent: there’s going to be an impact (to traffic). There is a significant impact in the area when it comes to hosting a worldwide major event like the Super Bowl,” Naft said to 8 News Now after the Tuesday meeting. “What we’re trying to do is have open transparency, open communication, make sure that everybody who needs access gets the access that they need.”
Clark County has launched an SMS text service that will alert when Super Bowl-related road closures, lane restrictions, and traffic impacts begin. Those interested in these updates can opt-in by texting SBLV to 31996 to receive the weekly alert on Sundays.
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