Motorcades for Clinton, Trump cause few traffic problems
Although evening commuters endured about 40 minutes of painful road closures Wednesday, no major traffic problems were reported as the motorcades of presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump wended their way through Las Vegas.
Trump’s entourage was the first to hit the road shortly after southbound Interstate 15 was shut down from Sahara Avenue to the eastbound 215 Beltway and then on to surface roads leading to the UNLV campus, where the Republican nominee later squared off with Clinton for the third and final presidential debate.
By the time Trump was nearing UNLV, a much larger motorcade escorting Clinton traveled down the same path to the debate.
Sections of Tropicana Avenue, Maryland Parkway, Swenson Street, Russell Road and other arterial streets were closed for several hours in order to secure the area.
A team of about 10 workers from the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada’s traffic management center monitored the motorcades and traffic with help from cameras mounted on traffic signals.
The live footage was beamed to large television screens that displayed massive back-ups during the motorcade, particularly along I-15, the Beltway and Tropicana Avenue.
The RTC did not report any problems after the debate, but workers were caught off-guard when Clinton’s motorcade drove into North Las Vegas and headed to Craig Ranch Regional Park for a surprise visit to a debate watch party that was also attended by Mexican singing superstars Vicente Fernandez, Los Tigres del Norte and Angelica Maria.
After Clinton delivered a brief speech, her motorcade traveled south on I-15, prompting another round of closures to McCarran International Airport.
Trump headed back to the airport after the debate and had left Las Vegas by 8:30 p.m.
Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Find @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.
