Parking situation a problem for Raiders Las Vegas stadium plans

Raiders fans love their tailgating. The current site in Oakland has always had plenty of room for it. The 62-acre site in Las Vegas? Not so much. In fact, a recent study commissioned by the Raiders shows there may not even be enough parking spaces to put anyone other than luxury box holders and team staff.

The result of the study, as reported by the Las Vegas Sun, shows there is just 15% of the minimum required spaces by Clark County in order for the stadium to be certified. And that certification must happen before the project can break ground.

Last month the Raiders’ lease was approved which avoided a major potential delay in their planned January ground breaking. This too will need to be figured out before then, and as has been discussed, the tight 30-month construction window leaves no room for delays in order for the stadium to open on schedule for the 2020 season.

The current plans afford 2400 spaces while the minimum for construction is 16,250. That figure is a quarter of the 65,000-seat capacity of the stadium which is to say that if everyone who parked filled their four-seat vehicle, everyone could find a parking spot. That would be a stretch in and of itself.

In order to accommodate the fans, several parking areas away from the site will have to be set up and in many cases shuttles will be needed to bus them to the stadium. In addition large pedestrian walkways are being considered for those who are close enough and may prefer to make the trek from their hotel or parking area on foot.

The natural first thought would be for the team to purchase plots around the lot the Raiders purchased for the stadium. They paid $77.5 million for that lot and as you might expect the prices of surrounding lots had already begun skyrocketing the moment that lot was even considered a possibility. People want businesses there, not parking spaces.

So, yeah, enjoy these days of tailgating outside the stadium before the game because from the looks of things, that too will be part of a bygone era once the Raiders depart for Vegas.