How Do We Avoid Traffic on the Las Vegas Strip?

We'll be coming to Las Vegas between for Valentine's Day and staying on the Strip. This will be our first trip in more than 20 years. We'd like to try to avoid heavy traffic on the Strip. Can you give us some tips on alternate routes that don't take us too far out of the way?

There are two good alternate north-south routes west of the Strip. The road that will probably be new to you (since '04) is Frank Sinatra Drive, which runs between I-15 and the parking lots/garages of Mandalay Bay, Luxor, New York-New-York, Park MGM, Bellagio, and Caesars Palace. It connects with Russell Road to the south and Dean Martin/Sammy Davis, Jr. Drive to the north. (To get off in between, you have to drive through parking lots.)

Speaking of Dean Martin Drive, this service road also runs parallel to the Strip, but it's west (on the other side) of the freeway. It continues far south of the tourist corridor, but the most useful stretch for avoiding the Strip is from W. Hacienda (where a bridge crosses I-15 and delivers you right to the Mandalay Bay parking garage and beyond to the Strip) up to Sahara. North of there, you can continue all the way to downtown: Dean Martin turns into Sammy Davis, Jr., which turns into S. Industrial Road, which turns into S. Grand Central Parkway.

On the east side, you should learn the Koval-Paradise parallel route from Tropicana to Sahara avenues. Go east on Reno Avenue (it intersects the Strip between Luxor and Excalibur), then follow it around to the north (left) onto Koval. From Koval you can hit the back doors of all the casinos on the east side of the Strip from the MGM Grand to the Venetian.

Crossing the Strip on east-west thoroughfares can be brutal. The fastest way to get from one side to the other without touching it is to make use of the three-mile Super Arterial, which connects Paradise on the east to Valley View on the west via the six-lane no-lights Desert Inn Road. This shortcut is extremely convenient if you’re going from the Orleans, Gold Coast, or Rio (which should be open by then) to the Westgate or on to Boulder Station and Sam's Town.

The second best option for crossing the Strip is a tossup between Spring Mountain Road (west) and Sands Avenue (east) and Harmon Avenue. Sands/Spring Mountain runs between the Fashion Show Mall and Treasure Island and is much faster than trying to cross the Strip at Flamingo Road to the south. A little further south, Harmon Avenue, which runs between Cosmopolitan and Crystals Mall, was completed a few months ago; it now runs over Valley View and all the way to the west valley.

Tropicana Avenue is also preferable to Flamingo for crossing the Strip. Sahara is a good way to cross the north Strip.

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Comments

Kevin Rough Jan-10-2021

Koval, really

Our timeshare is on Koval.  When we first visited Vegas, I would agree that Koval was a good alternative.  Now I wholeheartedly disagree.  Many nights it moves as slow as the Strip.  Half an hour to get from Harmon to Sands is not abnormal.  Paradise is more often than not a faster route.

Edso Jan-10-2021

Frank Sinatra is great

If going from South strip by Mandalay Bay and needing to go to the Sahara, Frank Sinatra is an absolute must. When our son was a lot younger we would stay at Excalibur, but go to Circus Circus daily. This was only about a 5 minute drive using Frank Sinatra.  I also agree with Kevin, Koval can be a slow go depending on the time you travel on it.  Paradise will get you over to North Strip way faster.

JerryD Jan-10-2021

Harmon

Regarding your second best options, the road that goes between Crystals and Cosmo is called Harmon, not Hacienda.

Gregory Jan-10-2021

QOD

Recently most of the Questions of the Day have been questions that can eaisly be answered by a simple Google search.  What's up with that?

steve crouse Jan-10-2021

WuHuFlu

Gregory

WuHuFlu !
It affects everything......

Deke Castleman Jan-10-2021

Jerry

Right. Harmon, not Hacienda. Little brain freeze there. Thanks for the correction.

protravel Jan-10-2021

Traffic?

We haven't been able to visit Las Vegas since March, so I'm guessing that traffic on the Strip hasn't been an issue during Covid, nor would it be until well into 2021 (or much later, sadly).

Bob Dancer Jan-10-2021

No mention of Desert Inn flyover?

For many purposes, DI is the best way to cross the Strip.

Llew Jan-10-2021

Reread the answer, Bob

Desert Inn Rd was mentioned with the “three mile Super Arterial.”   And I agree; I use it all the time 

BTW, one of my local friends used to be a limo driver. I am always amazed at how quickly he can get from wherever to anywhere. I’ve seen streets/roads that I didn’t even know existed.

VegasROX Jan-10-2021

Protravel strip

There are road construction going on from the strip and beyond. At times, it slows to a fast walk speed and other times, a turtle crawl. Lok in the archives, LVA just did a good write up about it not long ago. Its gonna go on a long time.

Eric Forman Jan-10-2021

Dumb question

The best route today may be the worst route tomorrow due to traffic, accidents and/or construction. Just use Waze to get the fastest and best route for when you're going.

Question of the Day - 10 January 2021

Comments