LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Frustration and confusion. That was the mood Saturday from many people trying to navigate the traffic snarls around Allegiant Stadium before and after the Garth Brooks concert. Many concertgoers we spoke to feel organizers weren’t ready for the crowds and cars.
“Man did they do an awful job. Absolutely an awful job.”
Strong words from Kelly Atkinson about the traffic jam this past weekend around and near Allegiant Stadium.
“A mile and a half, maybe two miles away from the stadium itself was just lined with people,” she said.
She says it frustrated people like her driving in the area. Many coming in and out of the Garth Brooks concert happening that night. It also was a time when a few other big events were happening on The Strip including UFC 264 at T-Mobile Arena. Atkinson says people had trouble getting rideshares or parking spots, leading to many people walking in the record heat to the stadium from blocks away.
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“All these people up here were parking and walking to the stadium in the 115-degree heat,” she said.
Michelle Rodriguez, who went to the concert says getting to her parking spot took a while.
“It took us an hour just to get over the bridge because they never stopped the oncoming traffic from getting off of Russell,” she said.
Clark County commissioner Michael Naft says this is the first big event at capacity at Allegiant Stadium. He says the scorching heat may have played a role in some of the traffic issues.
“People who would have been helping direct traffic because of the hot conditions had to take more breaks. Had to switch out staff more often,” he said.
Commissioner Naft says having more modes of transportation and other improvements will be made for future events.
“We have more water stations set up. More tents and covered areas for people as they commute across the Hacienda bridge. That’s something we’ll add to the next time,” he said.
He says lessons will be learned from this as future events are held in and around Allegiant Stadium.
“We want to make sure that everyone has a positive event experience as possible so when they come back for more in the future,” he said.
Atkinson says she understands big events are finally coming back but felt better planning could have been done.
“They needed to be more professional about the way they handled things,” she said.
We also reached out to Allegiant Stadium management for comment and have not heard back yet.
Commissioner Naft says there will be continued coordination with the stadium staff, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and others to make sure the flow of traffic improves when future events happen at the stadium.
