LAS VEGAS — On May 14, a boring machine broke through the concrete wall near the 1.4 million square foot West Hall convention center expansion, marking the completion of excavation for the two tunnels known as the Convention Center Loop. The West Hall expansion, which is currently more than 80% complete, and Convention Center Loop are scheduled to debut to the public in December in time for the massive Consumer Electronics Show (CES) which is scheduled Jan.6 to 9.
CES ranked No. 1 on Trade Show Executive’s Gold 100 list in 2019. The mega show encompassed more than 2.7 million nsf of paid exhibit space, had 4,464 exhibiting companies and saw more than 70,000 attendees in 2018.
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“We look forward to debuting the Convention Center Loop for CES 2021, along with the opening of our West Hall expansion,” said Steve Hill, LVCVA CEO and President. “This fun and innovative transportation system is not only a transportation-first, but it will move our customers across our 200-acre campus in less than two minutes, reducing what would be a 20-30-minute walk.”
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The LVCVA moved from board approval to completing the excavation of both 4,500-foot-long tunnels in less than a year. Construction is already underway on three passenger stations, which will connect the existing 3.2 million square-foot convention center to the $980 million West Hall expansion.
“The Boring Company’s Convention Center Loop Transit System is a fantastic example of the future of transportation and how autonomous technologies can make day-to-day life more efficient – and CES 2021 is the perfect time and place to launch to innovators from around the world, said Karen Chupka, Executive Vice President, CES, Consumer Technology Association.
If all goes according to plan, passengers will load into all-electric Tesla vehicles capable of holding between 3 and 16 people. The Convention Center Loop will use up to 62 Tesla vehicles. The number of vehicles in operation will be based on the convention center trade show schedule.
The system is designed to transport up to 4,400 convention attendees per hour across the campus. It will take less than two minutes to carry passengers across the convention center campus, which by foot is a 20- to 30-minute walk.
“We are thrilled about the expected completion of the new West Hall and the Convention Center Loop, as are our exhibitors, said Jackie James, Group Director for World of Concrete at Informa Markets. The show, which ranked No. 14 on TSE’s Gold 100 list last year, saw upwards of 58,000 attendees in 2018
“World of Concrete is spread throughout the LVCC property, with both indoor and outdoor exhibits, so this will be a very welcome, quick and modern mode of transportation that our attendees will enjoy using…a remarkable construction project considering what they have accomplished these past few months,” said James. “It will be exciting to see these projects come to completion, as we look forward to our return to Las Vegas in January of 2021.”
Elon Musk’s Boring Company’s transportation system is located 40 feet beneath the convention center campus. The $52.5 million project, funded by the LVCVA, will allow convention attendees to be shuttled across the 200-acre campus in under two minutes, free of charge, in all-electric Tesla vehicles.
The system has the potential for future expansion and connectivity to resorts on the Strip, Downtown Las Vegas, McCarran International Airport and beyond.
Reach Steve Hill at (702) 892-0711 or shill@lvcva.com; Karen Chupka at chupkak@cta.tech; Jackie James at Jackie.James@informa.com.
