What Happens In Vegas…

LAS Airport Expansion Plans Shown Off To Clark County

There's always something happening in Las Vegas. New casinos, attractions, sporting events and conventions have millions of people pouring into the city. That's why major changes are inbound to Las Vegas with the newly unveiled LAS airport expansion plans. The Clark County Department Of Aviation unveiled the "Modernization Plan for Harry Reid International Airport" to the Clark County Board Of Commissioners on Tuesday. What Can We Expect From LAS Airport Expansion The one constant in Las Vegas is change, and the LAS airport expansion will be bringing plenty of it to Harry Reid International Airport. First things first - Terminal 1. The elder terminal is not as efficient as it could be. Ever have a flight go out of one of those gates that are in that circular concourse? Those do not fit as many gates as a typical "pier" design. So get ready for those to go away. They'll be replaced with a more typical pier hallway approach like you see at the D gates. That, along with building on the northern portion of Terminal 1 (which used to be Terminal 2) will allow for an additional 26 gates to be squeezed into the terminal. That's impressive! Although, here's hoping they have an answer for parking to go along with it, because T1 parking gets full very fast. That's Terminal 1. But what Terminal 3? It's going away. "What? Going away?! Why? They just built it," you are probably exclaiming. Well, worry not. They are simply renaming Terminal 3 as Terminal 2. There used to be a Terminal 2 so Terminal 3 was named as such to not confuse anyone. But all that ended up doing is confusing people who wonder where Terminal 2 is. Along with changing a digit (we'd love to know the cost of changing all those signs), the move from the existing Terminal 2 security checkpoint will feature a more direct route to the trams to the D gates which are not accessible by car. The biggest improvement might come on the roads around the airport. The new traffic design around the airport will make it a lot easier to travel from Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and back around. Right now it isn't very smooth sailing. But overpasses and re-routing of traffic will make it make a lot more sense. What Comes Next In The Potential LAS Airport Expansion? This isn't fully approved yet. The next step is for the Clark County Department Of Aviation to show the plans off to the entities that will be paying the fees to fund the whole project, which mostly means the airlines and, in turn, you. Once the stakeholders give their thumbs up, then the project may go forward. All we know is we much prefer taking Terminal 3, so if they ruin that experience we will be very sad. Once the stakeholders give their thumbs up, then the project may go forward. All we know is we much prefer taking Terminal 3, so if they ruin that experience we will be very sad. Correction: In the original version of this article, the second paragraph stated that the Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport (SNSA) would be a freight airport in Jean, Nevada. The Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport is the second commercial airport being planned for in Ivanpah Valley, not Jean, Nevada.