LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Las Vegas Loop is continuing to grow across the valley.
On Wednesday, the Las Vegas City Council unanimously approved plans to add about 21 additional stations in their jurisdiction. That includes locations like Area 15, Palace Station, the Medical District, Symphony Park, El Cortez, Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, and City Hall. You can see those proposed stations on the map below.
This comes a few months after Clark County officials also approved additional stations.
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While the motion passed unanimously, Mayor Carolyn Goodman said she still had personal concerns about the project.
"There was no city that would undertake this project for a variety of reasons. Las Vegas is the first place this is being undertaken. This is just me but having sat on the LVCVA board my entire term and researching this, I would hope it would work but there are so many issues that it's impractical," Goodman said. "It's operator-driven and is not on a rail and can't move as safely as we normally do. I find it's unsustainable. Tunnels are one-way in each direction and they're 12 feet wide. It a car gets a flat, it backs up all the way."
She also added potential energy issues in the future could cause issues.
"If we have a grid problem, if these go dark or the batteries have problems, I find there aren't enough exists involved. I worry very much about the energy in the tunnels," Goodman said. "We have 180,000 people that come to conventions like CES. Trying to move them one car at a time or getting stuck in each direction isn't going to work. I have spoken out about it because that's my personal beliefs. However, I'm going to vote in favor of this extension because of the plea of the hotels and private sector to move more people around our Southern Nevada community."
Brian Knudsen, Mayor Pro Tem Ward 1, said he understands what Mayor Goodman's concerns are but said projects like the Las Vegas Loop differentiate the valley and make it unique compared to the rest of the country.
"For the 18 years I've been here, which is a drop in the bucket compared to many in the community, Vegas is constantly reinventing itself," Knudsen said. "I sit on the RTC board, as well as the mayor, and there is a continued struggle to find transportation and how we do fuel revenue index taxing, which pays for our construction. This is a chance to take vehicles off the road and support a private company. That's how Vegas seems to be moving forward. It's a mix of private-public transportation. As we continue to grow and evolve in this technology, there are lots of risks associated with it but that continued pressure will be how do we move our local community to and from in an immediate, efficient way that is productive to our entire community. It's a risk I'm willing to take."
According to the Boring Company's representative, there are currently 2.2 miles of tunnels that are currently operational, including four surface stations and one subsurface station. In the two years the system has been operational, the Boring Company said 1.2 million passengers have gone through the system and at peak capacity, they've transported 32,000 passengers a day and 4,500 passengers in one hour.
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With the expansion plan, the Boring Company said they're expecting there to be 81 stations and 68 miles of tunnel across the valley.
