A new underground Loop station across from UNLV is on track to start carrying passengers by the end of the week, giving Las Vegas a fresh transit option just as Formula One descends on the valley. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority expects the Boring Company stop to be operating before the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix kicks off next week, with traffic congestion already a top-of-mind concern for many across the valley.
The timeline hinges on paperwork as much as engineering. According to FOX5 Las Vegas, the Paradise Road tunnels were on track to receive a temporary occupancy permit this week, which could clear the way for the stop to open in time for the race. LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill said the station is anticipated to open by the end of the week, though every Loop stop must pass inspections before it can welcome riders.
The project taking shape is the twin-tunnel University Center Loop, a two-mile route running beneath Paradise Road between the Westgate Las Vegas and a Boring Co.-owned site at 4744 Paradise near UNLV, according to reviewjournal.com. The company decided to put both tunnels into service at the same time ahead of the Grand Prix weekend rather than opening them separately, per the same report. When finished, the Paradise stretch is expected to open with three new stations: one at 4744 Paradise, one at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, and one at the former Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant site on Paradise.
Confidence Amid Inspections Still Underway
“We feel really confident it'll be open before the race,” Hill said, according to the outlet's reporting, even as the tunnels were still undergoing permit inspections at the time. FOX5 Las Vegas reports the new stations, including the Thomas & Mack station and the Gordon Biersch station, will connect to the rest of the Loop system once they're cleared to open.
Not every piece of the Paradise corridor is moving at the same pace. The stop near the Howard Hughes Center and Virgin Hotels is still undergoing completion, and the LVCVA has not announced a timeline for when that station will open, per FOX5's reporting.
A System Still Expanding Beyond the Strip
The push near UNLV follows a formal campus approval process. In June, the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents approved agreements allowing a proposed Boring Company Loop station at UNLV to move forward, according to KTNV. That station is planned for the west side of the Thomas & Mack parking lot, near the campus services building, the station notes. Years earlier, during tunneling for the UNLV-area connection, Hill said there was a chance the first of two tunnels could be operational within 12 to 18 months, reviewjournal.com reported at the time.
The existing Loop network already includes stops at Resorts World, Sahara, Encore and the Las Vegas Convention Center, per FOX5's reporting. Teslarati has reported separately that the system has carried more than 4 million passengers through 11 open stations since it began running in 2021, and that Sahara Las Vegas opened a station giving the network its northernmost stop yet on the Strip at the time.
How Much of a Dent Can the Loop Make?
Hill said each station could probably handle a few thousand people per hour, and that Loop use means those riders simply aren't on the roads, taking some pressure off valley traffic during the Formula One rush. Still, the LVCVA does not have projected ridership figures for the race itself, according to FOX5's reporting. Hill was careful to frame the system's role as supplemental rather than a cure-all, saying the Loop supplements the existing transportation system and isn't responsible for solving all of the valley's transportation issues. He added that he believes the Loop is a benefit for everyone, and noted that it costs taxpayers nothing.
Plans for the system's reach beyond Paradise Road remain in flux, and reports differ on key specifics. One review-journal.com report describes a planned Palo Verde Road station at 5022 Palo Verde Road, while an earlier review-journal.com report placed a planned station at 5032 Palo Verde Road for an extension south of Tropicana. The outlet's reporting is similarly split on the scale of Boring Co.'s full build-out, with one account describing a plan for 68 miles of tunnels linking 123 stations and another describing 68 miles of tunnels and 104 stations.
