Raiders footing bill for infrastructure around new Las Vegas stadium

Dive Brief:

The Las Vegas Raiders have reached an agreement with Clark County, NV, to pay for certain emergency services and pedestrian infrastructure around the team's new $2 billion stadium, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
The development agreement between the team and the county would see the Raiders pay almost $1.4 million for emergency services and traffic control equipment, as well as on-site detention and transportation facilities for the Las Vegas Metro Police. The team must also fund construction of pedestrian grade separation systems (PGSS) – pedestrian bridges or underpasses – that will enable fans and event goers to move between the stadium and the nearby Las Vegas Strip without interfering with vehicular traffic.
The details of what the PGSS might look like cannot be fleshed out until the team reveals how it intends to handle parking for the stadium, a plan for which the Raiders have until September 2018 to submit to the county. The county is scheduled to consider the development agreement this week; negotiations between the team and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority for a separate agreement, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, are expected to come next.

Dive Insight:

While the Raiders will contend manage foot traffic between the stadium and the Las Vegas Strip, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) has started planning a $900 million program of infrastructure work around the venue. NDOT officials said they were preparing to do the work, but that the arrival of the Raiders had moved it to a priority spot on their agenda.

The agency said the upgrades will include reorganization of highway interchanges, direct access ramps and carpool lanes, but that it must first complete the required environmental reviews, purchase the necessary land and secure funding, which should come in 2020 or 2021. The Raiders project their inaugural NFL season will kick off in 2020, so attendees might have to deal with slow construction traffic around the stadium until the NDOT completes its work.

It was a close call recently for the Las Vegas Stadium Authority and the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee, which intend to use $750 million of tax-exempt bond financing to help pay for construction of the stadium. A House GOP tax reform bill that passed in November would have eliminated that financing vehicle for sports venues, but the final House-Senate measure President Trump signed on Dec. 22 preserves the option.