New Year’s Eve: Officials discuss safety prep, road closures as 400K expected

With officials expecting 400,000 people to descend on the Strip and downtown to ring in 2024, emergency officials spoke Thursday about what they will be doing to keep Las Vegas’ New Year’s Eve celebrations safe.

Speaking at a news conference, elected officials and first responders outlined road closures as well as the rules around what people can and can’t bring to the celebrations, which will culminate with fireworks displays from the rooftops of nine Strip resorts including, for the first time, the newly opened Fontainebleau.

Called “America’s Party,” the theme of this year’s celebration is “More in ’24.”

Safety a priority

“There’s no better place in the world to spend New Year’s Eve than right here, and it is our top priority to make sure this is as safe an event as is humanly possible,” Clark County Commission Chairman Jim Gibson said.

A senior Las Vegas police official declined to say how many officers will be working on the Strip.

“Every year we get asked that question. I’ll just say a billion,” joked Metropolitan Police Department Undersheriff Andrew Walsh. “The reason we don’t answer that is because we don’t want to give anybody any idea what the deployment actually looks like. But very, very few people will not be working on New Year’s Eve.”

From 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve until 6 a.m. on New Year’s Day, on both the Strip and Fremont Street Experience, the rules are no glass or metal containers, no strollers, no coolers and no backpacks.

Large bags including luggage, computer bags, or diaper bags also won’t be allowed. Any bags larger than 12 inches by 12 inches by 6 inches are prohibited.

Citing the recent shooting at UNLV that killed three professors, Walsh said it doesn’t take much to cause devastation, but he said first responders have a “plan that you will all be proud of to keep us all safe.”

“It’s a reminder to all of us that it doesn’t take a lot of sophistication, it doesn’t take a lot of complex planning, it doesn’t take a lot of coordination to wreak havoc on our community,” Walsh said.

Police said Friday that Las Vegas Boulevard, also known as the Strip, will start to close to vehicle traffic at 6:30 p.m. between Spring Mountain Road and Tropicana Avenue.

The Strip will be completely closed to vehicle traffic by 8, police said.

Spring Mountain and Tropicana will remain open to traffic.

Interstate 15 offramps at Flamingo Road will close at 5:30 p.m.

A curfew of 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve until 5 a.m. on New Year’s Day will be in place that prohibits children under 18 to be without a parent on the Strip and in downtown Las Vegas, police said.

Free bus rides

Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft said the RTC will be offering free rides on all bus routes from 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve until 9 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

Naft also said the Las Vegas Monorail, which serves the Strip between the Sahara and MGM Grand, will be running around the clock from 7 a.m. on New Year’s Eve until 2 a.m. on Tuesday. Local residents with a Nevada ID can buy $1 single-ride tickets. For non-locals, Naft said, single-ride tickets are $6.

Naft also urged people to use ride-hailing services such as Uber or Lyft if they need to.

“There is absolutely no excuse to see what we have seen over this Christmas holiday — in just 12 short hours, five fatalities in four different crashes,” Naft said, referring to the rash of road deaths on Dec. 24 and 25. “This community cannot tolerate that this New Year’s Eve.”

Walsh also said that people can call 911 in any emergency or, if they see something, they can say something by calling 702-828-7777, which is listed on Metro’s website as the Homeland Security Tip Hotline.

“With everyone’s help and cooperation, we can make this New Year’s Eve celebration an enjoyable one,” Walsh said.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman also asked the public to be vigilant, stay safe and avoid driving if they’re drinking.

“We know there is no greater place to have a good time than here in Las Vegas,” Goodman said. “We are prepared, but we need everyone to do their part.”

Fire Chief John Steinbeck, of the Clark County Fire Department, reminded people to dress warmly.

“It is Las Vegas, and we do think it’s a desert, but it does get very cold on New Year’s Eve many years, and we do get some calls related to that,” Steinbeck said.

Bundle up

According to the Las Vegas forecast office of the National Weather Service, the forecast for Sunday night is calling for a chilly low of 41 degrees, mostly cloudy and a 20 percent chance of showers after 10 p.m.

Thursday’s briefing was in a large room at Rob Roy’s Innovation Center, near Decatur Boulevard and the 215 Beltway, which will serve as a command post for police and other first responder agencies.

Separately, the National Nuclear Security Administration plans to fly a helicopter over the Strip on Friday and Saturday to conduct an aerial radiation assessment survey.

The aircraft, equipped with radiation-sensing technology, will fly in a grid pattern about 150 feet above the ground to measure expected background radiation as part of standard preparations to protect public health and safety before New Year’s Eve, according to a Wednesday statement from the NNSA.

The flyovers will take place during the day and will last two hours to complete per area, the statement says.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com. Review-Journal staff writer Jessica Hill contributed to this report.