LAS VEGAS STRIP WILL BE SAFER FOR PEDESTRIANS

The Las Vegas Strip will become safer for pedestrians with the installation of hundreds of steel bollards along with unprotected segments of the sidewalk. The posts will be strong enough to stop a 15,000-pound vehicle at 50 mph. Approximately 3,200 feet of sidewalk will be protected in the initial phase of the project.

Clark County commissioners are determined to protect tourists on the Las Vegas Strip from car accidents caused by a DUI or a medical episode, as Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak stated. Others have cited the numerous terror attacks in the past 12 months where vehicles were used as weapons, as well as the crash at the end of 2015. The latter involved a woman driving up onto a sidewalk near Paris Las Vegas and Planet Hollywood, injuring 34 people and killing one.

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The county is targeting six areas that are very crowded on Las Vegas Strip where pedestrians have no protection from the street. They hope to have the 700 bollards that are parts of the initial project installed in these areas by the beginning of December. If necessary, another 500 posts will be installed.

The bollards will be anchored underground to interconnected steel frames. They will reach between 15 and 18 inches underground, providing a solid foundation, and will be rise between 3 and 4 feet above the sidewalk. Made out of carbon steel and featuring steel inserts, a single bollard can weigh over 1,000 pounds.

More Crowding, Less Risk

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The sidewalk will be approximately one and a half feet narrower after the bollards are installed, but the increased safety is worth the slight discomfort of more crowding. In Las Vegas, a car accident lawyer might be able to help an injured party, but another event like the 2015 crash could do irreparable harm to the tourism industry.

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Several commissioners were worried about the appearance of these posts, considering that the resorts on the Las Vegas Strip feature different architectural styles. The solution is for each of the properties to provide decorative sleeves that can be placed over the bollards to ensure they blend in well.

The county is expecting to project to cost approximately $5 million, with each bollard costing between $2,600 and $3,600. The funding will be obtained from the income generated by a hotel room tax that is dedicated to improving roadways.