Walk, shuttle or face extreme parking challenge during Rock in Rio
They wouldn’t create a venue designed to hold 85,000 people and not put in any places to park, would they?
A preposterous notion, right?
Get ready, Las Vegas. That scenario is playing out next weekend and the weekend after.
Rock in Rio, which might be one of the coolest international music festivals ever to land in the city, is going cold turkey on cars.
It’s a little scary to fathom considering how much we love our vehicles. It’s an extreme exercise in mass transportation and sustainability initiatives. There are likely to be thousands of people walking in the vicinity of the City of Rock, across the street from the SLS at Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue, from 2:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday and May 15 and 16. Most of the festival entry gates are along the west side of Las Vegas Boulevard.
To get to the Rock in Rio festival site, you’re going to have to do some walking, and before you do that, you will have to get close via shuttle bus, the Las Vegas Monorail, taxis or limousines.
Although the festival site was built to accommodate 85,000 people, organizers are expecting attendance of 40,000 to 50,000 a day this inaugural year.
Rock in Rio organizers have a shuttle system in place — a two-day pass costs $25 — that will take attendees from three pickup points to the festival venue. Pickup points are the World Market Center, the Downtown Event Center at Third Street and Carson Avenue and the MGM Resorts Village across Las Vegas Boulevard from Mandalay Bay and Luxor. Signs will identify shuttle stops.
Rock in Rio has a partnership with the Las Vegas Monorail with 24-hour passes for $12 and two-day passes for $22. Attendees can travel from anywhere along the monorail line to the SLS station and walk across the street.
The Nevada Taxicab Authority has allocated up to 160 additional taxicabs for the two weekends, and organizers have developed a special route for taxis and limousines to enter the festival grounds via Industrial Road and Circus Circus Drive.
For those who can’t bear to use mass transportation to get to the festival grounds, the Stratosphere is offering 2,000 parking spaces at its garage, first come, first served.
The cost is $30 a day per car, and there are no in-and-out privileges.
For motorists driving near the Strip and Sahara the next two Friday and Saturday nights, be wary of pedestrians.
There probably will be hundreds of them, and because an estimated three-quarters of them will be from out of town and might be unpredictable and mesmerized by the city’s lights, be prepared for jaywalkers and street lollygaggers.
Better still, avoid the neighborhood those nights if you can.
LIFE IN THE HOV LANE
Readers last week offered some questions about those diamond-marked, high-occupancy-vehicle lanes on U.S. Highway 95 that run from about Rancho Drive to around Ann Road.
“Are electric cars allowed to use the HOV lane in Las Vegas?” Warrior reader John asked. “The official Nissan Leaf website says yes. But there is no information on Nevada Highway Patrol’s website stating so.”
And from Warrior reader Van, this:
The HOV lanes have signs indicating the hours that they are used. Does that mean a single driver alone in a vehicle can use the lane without any problems anytime outside the posted hours? In other words, is it legal for me alone to drive in the HOV lane if it is not during the posted times without worry about being stopped and ticketed by Metro or the NHP?”
Trooper Loy Hixson provided the answer to both inquiries.
First, John, your Leaf is legal! State statutes say that vehicles with two or more occupants, low-emissions or energy-efficient vehicles, buses and motorcycles can use the HOV lanes. That means regardless of the number of people in the vehicle, energy-efficient vehicles are welcome.
As for Van’s question, HOV lanes are “active” during posted times. For U.S. 95, that is 6-10 a.m. and 2-7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Outside those time parameters, including all day Saturdays and Sundays, the HOV provisions come off, and those lanes can be treated like any other.
So if you’re driving solo, you can use the lane without fear.
And I know what you’re wanting, Van: You just want to use that cool Summerlin Parkway flyover, right? On weekends and during long lunch hours, go for it!
MORE ON REAL ID
Readers last week sent some personal-experience stories about their efforts to sign up for Real ID, the drivers’ license designation people will need to pass through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at airports beginning in October 2020 and available through the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Most of the warnings came from women who had either married or divorced and changed their last names.
Most of them recommended taking the divorce decree or a copy of a marriage license when they apply for the Real ID designation in addition to other required documentation.
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