Boring Co., Las Vegas airport officials discussing Vegas Loop station

The Boring Co. is tunneling toward a space just north of Harry Reid International Airport, with the potential to directly connect to the international travel hub in the works.

A tunneling machine is working its way underground from a planned station site at 4744 Paradise Road, near UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center, to a portion of land Boring Co. owns just south of the Paradise/Tropicana Avenue intersection at 5022 Palo Verde Road.

That link will get passengers close to the airport but still needing to use a shuttle service to make it to the airport.

Reid Airport station

Direct airport access is in the works. Talks are underway to extend the Vegas Loop directly into the footprint of Reid Airport, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president and CEO Steve Hill.

Getting the transportation system linked directly into the airport would be a monumental feat for the city, Hill said.

“The airport has been talked about for decades with the monorail, and is the holy grail of transportation services,” Hill said. “We’ve got 50 million passengers a year going in and out of the airport. … Just being able to get people back and forth through the airport, taking them off the streets, what a difference that is going to make.”

Hill said the community has recognized the need for that sort of access for years, and the Boring Co. project represents the best way to make it happen.

”We’re really close, and we’re really excited about that,” he said.

Reid Airport spokeswoman Monika Bertaki confirmed that talks are ongoing. Details of the agreement and where stations could be added are still unfinished.

“We have been coordinating with The Boring Company to include tunnel stations on airport property,” Bertaki said in an email. “However, the agreement remains under development, and details, including the exact station locations, have not yet been finalized.”

Boring Co. President Steve Davis told the Review-Journal Thursday that the airport talks were going well.

Paradise tunnels

The 4744 Paradise Road site has served as a key piece to the construction of the Vegas Loop, receiving dirt from tunneling operations to be sent offsite and treating groundwater encountered during the project so it can be safely released into to county’s storm drain system.

The site will soon serve a dual purpose, continuing as a construction site but also hosting its own Vegas Loop station, Hill said.

“They’ve split the property in half right this minute, and one is serving as a construction site, and the other is preparing to have that station,” Hill said.

The soon-to-be complete University Center Loop, which will be just over 2 miles of dual tunnels underneath Paradise Road, also ties into the 4744 Paradise Road site.

The University Center Loop will include stations at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, a planned Boring Co. Multi-unit residential property and the site of the former Gordon Biersch brewery and restaurant, linking to the Las Vegas Convention Center and Westgate.

When opened, the segment will be the first portion of the Vegas Loop to travel for miles outside the convention center hub area where the system originated.

Hill said he hopes the Paradise line will be open with at least the Virgin Hotel station in time for November’s Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix. There’s also a chance that the station at the Gordon Biersch site will be ready for race weekend, which would open up service to Sphere.

Boring Co.’s Davis said the company is working on getting the Paradise tunnels open, but he did not have a timeline for opening.

The Vegas Loop operates multiple stations at the Las Vegas Convention Center and at nearby resorts including Encore, Fontainebleau, Resorts World and Westgate.

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

UNLV station

Hill was also interested in exploring the potential for the planned Vegas Loop station set to be built at the Thomas & Mack Center. Park and ride scenarios for the Las Vegas Convention Center and the various arenas and stadiums in Las Vegas could be a benefit for all involved.

“They (UNLV) haven’t really run that as a commercial parking lot in the past, but we think there’s a real opportunity for the school to do that,” Hill said. “Tying together the parking lots that we have, whether they’re parking structures or lots, is going to really be a benefit for everybody involved going forward. We (convention center) are parking short, for sure. And interestingly, for the shows that need the most parking from us, they use the parking lots as outdoor exhibition space.”