Agreement: Raiders will pay for pedestrian bridges, underpasses

Image

Copyright 2017 LV Stadium Company, LLC

Rendering of the proposed Las Vegas Raiders Stadium.

Published Tue, Dec 26, 2017 (1:24 p.m.)

Updated Tue, Dec 26, 2017 (4:50 p.m.)

The largest piece of the Raiders stadium development puzzle remains in question, but the proposed development agreement between the team and the county illuminates needed upgrades and who will pay for them.

The Raiders will pay nearly $1.4 million for fire safety, first responder radio communications, and traffic control system improvements both on and around the Russell Road stadium site. The team also will bear the cost to construct bridges or underpasses to move pedestrians from the Strip to the stadium without interrupting traffic flow.

What those pedestrian changes will look like remains unclear because the agreement does not answer persistent questions about the stadium’s dearth of on-site parking. Initial project approval by the county in September gave the team a year to produce a plan for the 13,875 of 16,250 parking spaces required by county code that cannot be accommodated within the 62-acre footprint.

The agreement calls for the Raiders — referred to in the document as LV Stadium Events Company, LLC — to work with the county to identify needed pedestrian grade separation systems (PGSS) for moving the bulk of the 65,000 people expected on game day. In simpler terms, PGSS means constructing either pedestrian bridges or underpasses allowing people to walk from nearby parking lots or Strip hotels to the stadium without impeding vehicles on adjacent streets.

Until the parking plan exists, though, planners cannot know where the flyovers or tunnels need to be constructed. The parking plan is due to the county next September and the team must then submit a pedestrian study based on that document by November 2018. The stadium is scheduled to open by July 2020.

The team also will be responsible for operating and maintaining the pedestrian systems until it and the county agree on transferring responsibility to the government. Included in the agreement are previously discussed pedestrian improvements such as widening of sidewalks on Las Vegas Boulevard South and Hacienda Avenue, and addition of new sidewalks on Russell Road, Dean Martin Drive and Polaris Avenue.

In the agreement, the team agrees to fund fire upgrades including two mini pumpers, two Gator-type utility vehicles, two enclosed trailers and two tow vehicles at a cost of $846,000. The costs also include $280,000 for 25 portable radios and associated equipment, and $250,000 to upgrade the pre-empting system of nearby traffic intersections from infrared to GPS.

The document explicitly states that providing this equipment for use by the county fire department does not entitle the team or stadium to higher priority response than other emergencies.

For Las Vegas Metro Police, the Raiders will build an interview room for suspects and victims, a transport area to accommodate detention center buses, and two emergency command centers -- one in the upper levels of the stadium and a backup on the ground level.

Acting as the county zoning commission, the Clark County Commission will consider the development agreement at 9 a.m. meeting on Jan. 3.

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