Here’s the next step for Southern Nevada’s proposed new airport
The public gets its first crack at commenting on environmental concerns surrounding the development of the planned Southern Nevada supplemental airport south of Las Vegas in a series of three public meetings scheduled next week.
The airport, which doesn’t have a name yet, isn’t expected to be open until 2037, but it has been in the planning stages since 2006, when aviation officials began addressing growing concerns about Harry Reid International Airport operations reaching maximum capacity.
Various delays occurred over the years, most of them resulting from regional economic slumps, and the process of an environmental review came to a stop June 29, 2010, when the Clark County Department of Aviation, which operates Reid International, asked the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily stop the environmental review process.
But earlier this year, the FAA and the Bureau of Land Management, the lead federal agencies in the process, reinitiated the review for an FAA environmental impact statement and a BLM Resource Management Plan Amendment, scheduling public hearings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The first will be online from 6-8 p.m., Tuesday. The next two will be in-person meetings, Wednesday from 5-7 p.m., at the East Las Vegas Library Multipurpose Rooms 1 and 2 at 2851 E. Bonanza Road, Las Vegas, and Thursday from 6-8 p.m., at the Primm Valley Casino Resorts Ballroom in Primm. Government agencies will weigh in on an online meeting Tuesday from 1-3 p.m.
In a website dedicated to the airport review process — https://www.snvairporteis.com/ — new details were provided about plans for the development on 5,752 acres between Jean and Primm on the east side of Interstate 15.
The site is about 30 miles south of Las Vegas in the Ivanpah Valley, mostly in the Roach Dry Lake.
In addition to the airport infrastructure, the FAA and the BLM are considering 2,320 acres for flood mitigation infrastructure adjacent to the airport and 17,000 acres designated as a noise compatibility area.
What would be built
The Clark County Department of Aviation has proposed:
— Two parallel runways and a supporting taxiway system.
— An airport traffic control tower.
— Aircraft navigational aids for landing and takeoff.
— Airspace and flight procedure changes.
— Airport surveillance radar and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast — known as ADS-B — and a supplemental radar site.
— A central terminal with a federal inspection service facility.
— A new I-15 interchange and modifications to an existing interchange at Jean.
— Airport support facilities.
— Public, employee, and rental car parking.
— Utilities.
— Drainage and flood mitigation facilities.
— Some non-aeronautical development.
Airport planners have not determined which airlines or what types of flying would occur at the new airport and how it would coordinate with Reid. But they have said the airport would accommodate passenger and cargo flights as well as general aviation — private planes and corporate aircraft flying to Las Vegas for big events.
Little opposition
There has been little public opposition expressed for the airport plan, but a representative of the Center for Biological Diversity has indicated the Great Basin region of the organization is particularly interested in monitoring work involving two endangered species in the area. They include the beloved desert tortoise and the white-margined penstemon, known scientifically as penstemon albomarginatus, a perennial plant that grows in three locations within the Mojave Desert, including the Ivanpah Valley.
The BLM also noted that portions of the proposed airport site would become restricted to off-highway vehicle uses, but other portions may remain accessible. The agency said potential impacts to OHV use will be evaluated and disclosed in the planning process.
If Clark County fails to get a favorable record of decision in the review process, the land would revert back to BLM oversight.
The Southern Nevada supplemental airport would be the first major airport to be built in the United States since Denver International Airport opened in 1995. No cost estimate has been made for the project, which would be paid for mostly through federal grants and funding.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
