Raiders will pay for pedestrian bridges, underpasses

The largest piece of the Raiders stadium development puzzle remains in question, but the proposed development agreement between the team and the county illuminates needed upgrades and who will pay for them.

The Raiders will pay nearly $1.4 million for fire safety, first responder radio communications, and traffic control system improvements both on and around the Russell Road stadium site. The team also will bear the cost to construct bridges or underpasses to move pedestrians from the Strip to the stadium without interrupting traffic flow.

What those pedestrian changes will look like remains unclear because the agreement does not answer persistent questions about the stadium’s dearth of on-site parking. Initial project approval by the county in September gave the team a year to produce a plan for the 13,875 of 16,250 parking spaces required by county code that cannot be accommodated within the 62-acre footprint.

The agreement calls for the Raiders — referred to in the document as LV Stadium Events Company, LLC — to work with the county to identify needed pedestrian grade separation systems (PGSS) for moving the bulk of the 65,000 people expected on game day. In simpler terms, PGSS means constructing either pedestrian bridges or underpasses allowing people to walk from nearby parking lots or Strip hotels to the stadium without impeding vehicles on adjacent streets.