Harry Reid Airport Connector
The Harry Reid Airport Connector is a short, limited‑access road in Paradise, Nevada, that links Interstate 215 to Harry Reid International Airport. It consists of an unsigned State Route 171 segment, the Airport Tunnel, and related streets. The first 0.685 miles (1,102 meters) are maintained by NDOT as SR 171, while the rest is maintained by Clark County. The connector opened in 1994, along with the I‑215 extension.
Starting at I‑215 (exit 10), SR 171 runs north into a below‑ground tunnel under the airport property. It has a half‑diamond interchange with Sunset Road (SR 562), where SR 171 ends at the south portal of the tunnel. The Airport Tunnel has three tubes—one each for northbound and southbound traffic, and a third reserved for future transit—and emerges near the airport terminals. The surface road ends at Russell Road, and traffic then follows a one‑way pair: northbound on University Center Drive (formerly Swenson Street) and southbound on Paradise Road, with separate ramps to the terminals. The connector ends at Tropicana Avenue (SR 593), though the one‑way streets continue about a mile to Harmon Avenue.
In addition to airport access, the RAC serves as a shortcut between I‑215 and Tropicana near UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center. Since the car rental facility moved to Gilespie Street, SR 171 and the tunnel are used by all shuttle buses between the terminals and the rental car facility. All exits on the route are unnumbered.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 03:50 (CET).