Boring Co. Vegas Loop station approved for UNLV campus

A UNLV campus station for the Boring Co.’s Vegas Loop system was approved Monday by the Board of Regents in a meeting despite complaints about the company’s record of environmental and workplace safety.

The planned station will be built on the western edge of the UNLV campus in a portion of the parking lot surrounding the Thomas & Mack Center. Boring Co. will foot the bill for construction costs.

The vote granted Boring Co. a temporary construction easement for the UNLV land, as well as approved development, operation and management agreements, and an access license for the UNLV station.

Monetize largely unused parking

UNLV interim President Chris Heavey said the area where the station would be built includes seldom-used parking spots.

The station will largely be used by the general public for large offsite events at Allegiant Stadium, the Las Vegas Convention Center and other sites of interest. It will also serve large events at the Thomas & Mack, Heavey said. UNLV students will receive a 25 percent discount on Vegas Loop rides, while university staff and faculty are set to receive 10 percent off.

Heavey said the university could monetize the rarely used parking spaces when event attendees park at UNLV and take the Vegas Loop to a game, special event or trade show, freeing up parking spaces during large events on campus.

“Being able to monetize unused parking availability at the Thomas & Mack Center for high demand events would essentially help offset the parking costs that UNLV students have to pay to sustain the parking across the entire campus,” Heavey said during the meeting Monday. “It will also help improve access to the Thomas & Mack Center during some of our most high-profile events, such as the National Finals Rodeo, when the parking lot is extremely full and we have thousands of tourists coming into town wanting to access that event from the Resort Corridor.”

At full build-out of the Vegas Loop, UNLV will be one of a planned 104 stations across the resort corridor and in downtown Las Vegas and other sites of interest including Allegiant Stadium, Harry Reid International Airport, Chinatown and the Athletics’ under construction $2 billion ballpark.

Some oppose agreement

The approval came after multiple statements made during public comment period, including by UNLV students, opposing the addition, noting Boring Co.’s past issues relating to environmental and workplace violations.

Regent Heather Brown said the board heard the concerns but noted that the Boring Co. discussions have been ongoing for years and that Clark County and the city of Las Vegas are overseeing the system. Both municipalities had several meetings leading up to the approval of the Vegas Loop, and Brown said their concerns should have been made at those meetings.

She also said that the state, county and city lack the funding to build a public mass transit system and that Boring Co.’s self-financed Vegas Loop can’t be overlooked as Southern Nevada continues to grow.

“I feel like this conversation today is not about the Boring Co. itself; it’s not about the 104 stations, because the county commission and the city council have already agreed to partner with them,” Brown said. “Today’s conversation is NSHE going to be cut out of 104 stations? Is NSHE going to not allow UNLV to be part of the existing network? That’s what today’s question is.”

Future local benefit

Boring Co. representative, Tyler Fairbanks, who spoke virtually during the meeting, said UNLV students could use the system at full build out to travel to and from internship opportunities on the Strip or at other sites in the system. Additionally, Boring Co. has plans to eventually connect into Las Vegas Valley suburbs such as Henderson and Summerlin, where the transportation option would become more beneficial to locals.

“Our goal is actually to still expand that further and so the further that we expand this out into the neighborhoods of Las Vegas, the better this becomes for Vegas residents as well,” Fairbanks said.