As reliever airport is years away, officials focus on expanding Las Vegas airport

With the reliever airport in the Ivanpah Valley south of Las Vegas not likely to be operating until 2037 at the earliest, Clark County Department of Aviation planners are working on a series of projects that will improve operations at Harry Reid International Airport in the meantime.

Senior Director of Aviation James Chrisley said in a recent interview that the next phase of what’s anticipated to be a multibillion-dollar modernization project is underway.

Chrisley joined Clark County Aviation Director Rosemary Vassiliadis and Managing Director of Planning Bryant Holt to explain details of the project to the Clark County Commission in a 25-minute overview Oct. 1. That team then went in December to the 13-member Airline Airport Affairs Committee comprised of airlines that serve Reid since it’s the airlines that will gather the funds that will pay for most of the planned improvements.

While there were no votes cast, the planners came away from the meeting with the airlines with a positive outlook on their proposals.

Chrisley said his team is now conducting one-on-one meetings with individual airlines to present details of the modernization.

Among the projects under consideration are the expansion of Terminal 1 from 39 to 65 gates, building two multimodal centers that would also add airport parking and redesigning roadways that would separate direct connections between the two airport terminals from airport bypass traffic.

There are other smaller projects in the modernization that are expected to improve the passenger experience at the airport, including the opening of new concessions within terminals.

Because most of the expansion will occur in areas currently not in use, operational disruptions are expected to be minimal.

Roadway work has begun on Paradise Road to improve traffic flow for motorists traveling directly to the airport campus. A building addition at the C gates has also begun to include new seating as well as new food, beverage and retail options.

Later this spring, crews will start construction on a project at Terminal 1 to improve the pedestrian and vehicular flow in the departures and passenger pick-up areas. The project will include new escalators at bagge claim that will allow passengers who aren’t checking baggage to head straight to Level 2 security checkpoints. Additionally, escalators in future phases will be constructed from the center island of the departures curb to the security checkpoint to eliminate the need to pause vehicular traffic outside the baggage claim doors.

The airport already has opened Beer Union at the B gates, Crafted Bar at Terminal 3, and Modelo Bar and Kona Bar in the D gates area.

Capitol One Lounge coming

This week will see the opening of the new Capital One Lounge in the D gates.

Chrisley said he is particularly impressed with the new lounge, which will be located at the top of the rotunda at the D gates entrance.

Chrisley said the airport recently issued a contract to separate pedestrians and vehicles near the Terminal 1 baggage claim area. A new escalator will prevent passengers from having to cross traffic lanes and move directly from the departures curb to one of the Transportation Security Administration checkpoints.

“We’re modernizing a lot of the elevators within Terminal 1 to make sure they’re up to code and more reliable as we move forward,” Chrisley said. “And as a part of that, we’re actually adding two additional elevators in the T1 public parking garage to improve the vertical circulation within the garage itself.”

The one-on-one meetings with the airlines, Chrisley said, would occur over the next two months and would fine tune the timing of the projects. Once meetings are completed, the airport is expected to have a cost estimate for the overall plan which will be paid for through fees assessed passengers whenever they buy an airline ticket.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.