Officials aim to have Vegas Loop operational by Super Bowl LVIII

Tourism officials are still holding out hope that some form of the Boring Co.’s Vegas Loop transportation project will be operable by Super Bowl LVIII.

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill has noted the Super Bowl goal for the Vegas Loop in the past and is still hoping that dream comes to fruition.

“I think it’s still a possibility,” Hill said of having the Vegas Loop operating by Feb. 11, 2024. “We are working to try and make that happen.”

The Vegas Loop, operated by the Elon Musk-owned Boring Co., will be a 34-mile tunnel network with at least 55 stations, including at Allegiant Stadium, Harry Reid International Airport, UNLV, various Las Vegas Strip resorts and downtown Las Vegas locations. The underground network of tunnels will use a fleet of Teslas to transport people from point to point.

Boring President Steve Davis said this year that he hoped work on the Vegas Loop would begin sometime in 2023. He expects five to 10 stations will come online within the first six months of construction, with 15-20 stations slated to be added each year until full buildout is met.

The project is expected to be built in phases with the various portions connected at some point thereafter.

The Convention Center Loop has been in operation at the Las Vegas Convention Center since April 2021, with the first offshoot of that to Resorts World beginning operations this past summer. The next extension from the convention center is expected to be a tunnel to a planned station at the nearby Westgate. Those two extensions are also considered a phase of the full Vegas Loop buildout.

“We’re very close to getting a permit to start the Westgate (tunnel),” Hill said. “From a construction standpoint, we’ve got to work with shows to make sure we’re not interfering with what they have.”

Work on the Westgate connection is likely to begin after the largest annual convection in the city, CES, concludes in January.

“Right after that is the timing for that,” Hill said.

The Super Bowl is expected to be the most economically successful weekend in Las Vegas history, drawing tens of thousands of people to the area for the week of the big game. The Super Bowl is expected to have an economic impact $500 million and lead to thousands of jobs and opportunities for small and minority-owned businesses.

“There’s no event that has the spotlight on it like the Super Bowl does,” Hill said. “That means there’s not going to be an event that brings more attention to Las Vegas. It is our biggest opportunity to show what we can do.”

With the magnitude of the event, Hill said it would be ideal to have some portion of the loop working by the Super Bowl, but it’s not a make-or-break scenario.

“If it does (come online by Super Bowl), that would be great,” Hill said. “If we don’t make it in time, the logistics are still going to work terrific.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.