| History |  |
In the 1970s it was controlled by the Kansas City mafia.
There have been discussions about what will be done with this tropical themed hotel and the attached 34 acres (138,000 m²) of land. On July 21, 2005 there has been a rumor that the tropicana would be closed down on or after December 1, 2005 for redevlopment.
(cf : Wikipedia) |
| Description | |
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The Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection in Las Vegas, Nevada (Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard), the latter also known as the Las Vegas Strip is noteworthy for several reasons. It was the first intersection completely closed to street level pedestrian traffic in Las Vegas and its four corners are home to four of the largest hotels in the world, including the largest, as of 2004, the MGM Grand with 5,044 rooms. The four corners have a total of 12,890 hotel rooms as of 2004.
Tropicana Avenue is also the main local street into the airport and the first major exit from I-15 to the Strip for traffic heading north from the Los Angeles, California area. The heavy local traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard, which is listed as a National Scenic Byway All-American Road, further adds to the number of vehicles in this area.
After much study, Clark County, Nevada decided that the only solution to reducing accidents at this intersection that would improve pedestrian flow and vehicular traffic flow was to separate the vehicles and pedestrians.
Tunnels were considered, but being enclosed and underground posed extra security risks. So a solution of uncovered walkways over the streets using escalators and elevators for access was selected as the best solution.
An elevated pedestrian walkway was constructed across each of the streets where the crosswalks would normally have been located. Platforms at the ends of the walkways provide elevator and escalator access between the street and walkway level. The final step was to barricade the sidewalks from the roads in the vicinity of the intersection. |
