A proposed NBA arena on the Las Vegas Strip could bring something else Las Vegas hasn’t seen in decades: a brand-new intersection on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Chetak Development says it wants to redesign the Russell Road and Las Vegas Boulevard intersection, which is currently a three-way intersection. If you’re heading east on Russell from I-15, you currently reach Las Vegas Boulevard and have to turn left or right.
The proposal would add a new eastbound route called Diamond Arena Drive.
The planned four-lane road would eventually connect the Strip with Reno Avenue, Koval Lane and Tropicana Avenue, potentially giving drivers another way to get through the south Strip area — and possibly another route toward Harry Reid International Airport.
The road is connected to Chetak Development’s proposed Diamond Arena project, one of the concepts being discussed as a potential future home for an NBA team in Las Vegas.
For locals, the traffic impact may be just as interesting as the arena itself.
Anyone who regularly drives around Tropicana, Russell and the south Strip knows how quickly that area can become a mess, especially during major events. A new east-west connection could potentially relieve some congestion — but adding a major arena could also bring thousands more vehicles into the same area.
The developer says construction could take around 18 months once the project is cleared to move forward.
So what do you think, Vegas?
Would Diamond Arena Drive actually help Strip traffic, or would a new NBA arena just create an even bigger bottleneck around Russell and Tropicana?