Now that the Raiders have been voted to move to Vegas, there is talk of building the stadium on Russell Rd. and Las Vegas Blvd. Has there been any talk of plans to extend the monorail from MGM to this site of the new stadium?
There most certainly has been. And it’s not just talk.
In November 2016, the Clark County Commission voted unanimously to approve a 1.14-mile extension from the southern terminus of the Las Vegas Monorail at the MGM Grand to the assumed stadium site on Russell Road just across I-15 from Mandalay Bay. Included in the plan is a pedestrian bridge that would link the monorail station to the 65,000-seat domed stadium.
Actually, this extension has been on the drawing board for some time.
The Men’s Apparel Guild in California (MAGIC) trade show, held twice a year in Las Vegas, has been agitating for a connection between the Las Vegas Convention Center and Mandalay Bay Convention Center, between which the huge trade show is split. Transporting attendees from one to the other often takes an hour or more. But the assumed stadium location has provided enough extra impetus to move the extension plan forward.
Also in the works is a new monorail station at the Sands Expo and Convention Center; the monorail could connect all three convention centers, increasing ridership and decreasing traffic.
And the monorail company has renewed its discussions with McCarran Airport; they’re talking about installing a switching mechanism at the closest point on the extension (on Reno Avenue) to the airport, with an eye toward extending the line the rest of the way someday.
The monorail is a privately held nonprofit and is not asking for public financing; the cost of the extension hasn’t been nailed down yet, but it’s believed to be in the $100 million range. The company says it needs two years to raise the funding and start construction, though observers say it won’t take anywhere near that long to break ground.
The stadium, meanwhile, is expected to take 32 months to complete. If the Las Vegas Raiders are going to move into their new home for the 2020-2021 season, ground will need to be broken by January 2018.
