UNLV fans will be vexed by more than Badgers

Football fans might experience an immovable force at Saturday's UNLV-Wisconsin football game, but it won't necessarily have anything to do with the fifth-ranked Badgers' defense.

Motorists might need a more intricate game plan than Rebels' head coach Mike Sanford to negotiate the traffic headed to Sam Boyd Stadium before the 7:05 p.m. kickoff.

Those who are familiar with traffic problems surrounding large events at Sam Boyd know the drill: The main road in is Russell Road, which offers only two lanes in each direction.

The upside is that construction along Russell between Boulder Highway and Broadbent Boulevard will be sidelined Saturday in anticipation of a large crowd coming to see the highest-ranked college team to ever play in Las Vegas.

That is positive news since the largest crowd on record for a football game at Sam Boyd was in 1998 when the Rebels hosted the Big Ten Conference Badgers. The stadium holds 40,000 fans; 41,091 attended the game.

"We are not going to be impacting Russell Road for this weekend's game," said Bobby Shelton, spokesman for the Clark County Public Works Department. "It will be the same situation as far as Russell Road is concerned as you have seen in the past."

That situation can be nasty with cars lined up for hours trying to get out of the stadium.

The best strategy to get in might be to leave early. The parking lots will open at 2 p.m. and the stadium doors will be unlocked at 5 p.m.

Fans who envision a successful end-around to the stadium by taking Tropicana Avenue to Broadbent likely will hit roadblocks. Construction workers are installing a sewer line across Tropicana where it meets Broadbent. Lane restrictions are possible on Tropicana and Missouri Avenue, where crews are finishing a realignment project.

One positive note is that, like UNLV's season, the ride might be smoother once Wisconsin leaves town.

Crews are nearly finished installing storm drains on Russell between Boulder and the stadium. After that, work will begin on the $3.1 million project to realign and repave Russell.

For future games, three lanes will be open for traffic coming into the stadium and one lane will allow vehicles to leave the parking lot. The lanes will be switched around after the game begins, Shelton said.

"That is how it's going to work for the next six months," he said.

Unfortunately for UNLV football fans, all roads lead to Russell, which feeds the traffic into the stadium parking lots. If fans and the Rebels plan alike, they might overcome the immovable forces bound to accompany the clash with a Top 10 team.