Las Vegas Approves Pedestrian Bridge Across North Strip

Posted on: December 20, 2023, 02:26h. 

Last updated on: December 21, 2023, 10:53h.

A pedestrian bridge across the north end of the Las Vegas Strip was approved by Clark County commissioners on Tuesday. The bridge would cross Convention Center Drive and Las Vegas Boulevard, diagonally connecting Resorts World to Wynn  Las Vegas.

rendering of Resorts World
An original rendering of Resorts World shows a pedestrian bridge, diagonally crossing Las Vegas Boulevard and Convention Center Drive. The bridge was always a planned feature of the property. (Image: Resorts World)

Resorts World proposed a public-private partnership to build the bridge, based on a similar 2007 development agreement between the county and Boyd Gaming, which had planned to build the $4.8B Echelon Place at the same location.

During the Great Recession, Boyd sold the property for a reported $350M to the Genting Group, which began building Resorts World in 2013.

“We are thrilled to proceed with [the] next steps in getting this pedestrian bridge built and are grateful for the county commissioners’ approval of the project,” LaVoie said in a statement. “Efforts such as this are important in developing the North end of the Strip as foot traffic increases and more businesses are brought to the area, and we’re proud to be contributing in this way.”

Cross That Bridge Sooner

GCW Engineers’ design for a space-age bridge across Las Vegas Boulevard at Sahara Avenue. (Image: City of Las Vegas)

This is the second new pedestrian bridge in the works for the north end of the Strip. Earlier this month, the Las Vegas City Council approved a contract with Innova Technologies to review the design of a $40M, Jetsons-looking pedestrian bridge at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue.

The city, which could either approve or deny the proposal based on the review, offered no time line on when it might bid the project out to construction contractors.

The bridges couldn’t be any more needed in the area, which has seen a huge uptick in pedestrian traffic since the December 13 opening of Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the first new casino resort on the Strip since Resorts World opened on June 24, 2021.

According to the city of Las Vegas, 595 crashes occurred at the Strip’s Sahara intersection from 2009 to 1018, causing two deaths and 326 injuries.

Next up for the Resorts World bridge is a required agreement with Clark County Public Works.