On a normal weekday, construction crews on Las Vegas Boulevard North stop at 4 p.m. On Thursday, December 10, North Las Vegas lights its holiday tree at 4:30 p.m. at Liberty Park, the green space in front of City Hall. Half an hour separates the end of the workday on a $38 million road project from the city's biggest holiday gathering on the same block.
That gap holds the whole season together. The old downtown stretch of the boulevard has been a work zone since spring, and it will still be one in December. But nearly everything the city has planned for the holidays happens in the evenings or on weekends, the hours the project leaves alone. If you live nearby, the useful question this December is when the corridor works, and the answer is fairly consistent.
What the crews are building, and on what clock
The City of North Las Vegas announced that work on the Las Vegas Boulevard North Improvement Project would begin Monday, April 6, 2026. The project runs from East Tonopah Avenue to East Carey Avenue and covers upgraded storm drainage, new underground utilities and new pavement. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada and the Clark County Regional Flood Control District are paying the $38 million cost. The city estimated the job at about 18 months, with normal construction hours of 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The city also said the boulevard would stay open throughout, with lane closures and traffic shifts along the way. By early October, FOX5 reported that traffic through the work zone was down to one lane in each direction. The station listed the project's scope as flood-control improvements, new water and sewer lines, new pavement and pedestrian safety updates.
Those weekday hours are what set the holiday schedule.
The tree lighting sits inside the work zone
Liberty Park and City Hall share one address, 2250 Las Vegas Blvd. N. That puts them in the middle of the Tonopah-to-Carey stretch, and the city said construction would begin near City Hall.
The city's 6th Annual Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony runs from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on December 10. The event is free and includes a Christmas story reading, hot cocoa and cookies, live holiday performances, ornament making led by the library, and a special guest.
Last year's ceremony looked a little different. The city's 2025 holiday roundup listed the 5th annual lighting on December 4 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The start time is the same this year, but the event is half an hour shorter, so it wraps up at 5:30.
The library ornament table has a home nearby. The City Hall Library is on the first floor of the building behind the tree, and the city lists its Monday-through-Thursday hours as 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. December 10 is a Thursday, so the library is scheduled to stay open for more than two hours after the ceremony ends.
For parking and access that evening, check the event page and the city's construction notices the week of the event to see how the block will be set up that night.
Getting there by bus means walking a little farther
RTC Route 113 runs along Las Vegas Boulevard North, and the work zone has moved several of its stops. RTC's bus stop closure list dated November 6, 2026 shows these Route 113 stops closed until further notice, along with where riders should go instead:
| Closed stop | Closed since | Where to catch the bus instead |
|---|---|---|
| Northbound, Las Vegas Blvd after Bruce | June 14, 2026 | Temporary stop on the first light pole after Carey |
| Northbound, before Civic Center | April 8, 2026 | Temporary stop on the first light pole after Carey |
| Northbound, before Carey | April 8, 2026 | Temporary stop on the first light pole after Carey |
| Northbound, after Tonopah | June 14, 2026 | Walk south, turn right on N. 5th Street, temporary stop before the Jerry's Nugget parking lot driveway |
| Northbound, after Lake Mead | June 10, 2026 | Turn right on Lake Mead, left on N. 5th Street, temporary stop at the first light pole |
| Southbound, after Hamilton | June 14, 2026 | Cross Carey, turn left, temporary stop after Salt Lake St. |
| Southbound, after Carey | April 8, 2026 | Cross Carey, turn left, temporary stop after Salt Lake St. |
| Southbound, after Civic Center | April 8, 2026 | Cross Carey, turn left, temporary stop after Salt Lake St. |
| Southbound, before Tonopah | October 8, 2026 | Walk south to Stop ID 1284, before Foremaster |
| Southbound, before Lake Mead | June 14, 2026 | Turn right on Lake Mead, cross N. 5th Street, turn left, temporary stop at the second light pole |
The pattern is easy to follow. Riders near City Hall now board at the north end, around Carey, or move a block west to N. 5th Street at the south end. RTC updates the list daily and posts live changes on its alerts and detours page, so the stops on December 10 may differ from this table.
The stops at either end of the cone zone
Two of those temporary stops also mark familiar destinations at the edges of the project.
At the south end is Jerry's Nugget at 1821 Las Vegas Blvd. N., where one temporary northbound stop now sits beside the parking lot driveway. The casino's dining page describes Jerry's Famous Coffee Shop and an on-site bakery that makes breads, cakes, pies, pastries and cookies, including options for dietary restrictions. For a December errand on this stretch, a bakery that makes its own pies is a practical place to stop.
At the north end, Las Vegas Boulevard meets Carey Avenue, the corner where the northbound temporary stops are clustered. In its October 5 report, FOX5 spoke with businesses on this stretch. The Farmer Boys franchise at Las Vegas Boulevard and Carey, along with employees at a nearby 7-Eleven and Dutch Bros Coffee, told the station that business was down significantly because of the cone zone. Ward 1 Councilman Isaac Barron acknowledged the short-term impact in the same report and explained what the work is meant to prevent:
"The best part is, once we've done this work here, we're not gonna need to tear up the streets for dozens of years."
City officials told FOX5 the upgrades will help encourage redevelopment in North Las Vegas once they are done. For now, the businesses at both ends of the work zone are in the same spot as the bus stops, at the edge of the closures.
The rest of December runs on the same off-hours
The tree lighting is not the only event scheduled around the construction day. Each of the city's other December family events lands on a weekend or at or after 4 p.m. on a weekday:
- Saturday, December 5, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cocoa & Crafts at SkyView Multi-Generational Center, 3050 E. Centennial Parkway. The fee is $5.
- Thursday, December 10, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The Holiday Tree Lighting at Liberty Park. Free.
- Tuesday, December 15, 5 to 7 p.m. Handmade Holiday Workshop at Silver Mesa Recreation Center & Pool, 4025 Allen Lane. Preregistration is required, and the fee is $12.
- Friday, December 18, 4 to 6 p.m. Santa's North Pole Party at the Neighborhood Recreation Center, 1638 N. Bruce St. The listing invites families to preregister.
- Saturday, December 19, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Holly Jolly Morning at Silver Mesa Recreation Center & Pool. Preregistration is required, and the fee is $3.
The Santa party is the event most tied to the boulevard. The Neighborhood Recreation Center is on Bruce Street, and the northbound Route 113 stop after Bruce is one of the closed stops in the table above. The party starts at 4 p.m., the same time the city's normal construction day ends.
For a weeknight in the corridor, the most reliable window is late afternoon into the evening. On weekends, the city's normal construction hours do not apply.
What the calendar looks like after the holidays
Counting 18 months from the April 6 start puts the finish at roughly fall 2027, an estimate rather than a fixed date. If it holds, the corridor will probably go through another holiday season much like this one, with crews on weekdays and the community gathering after hours. The city's newsroom and RTC's daily closure list are the two places where changes will show up first.
Questions about how the boulevard project affects your corner of North Las Vegas come up in our conversations with neighbors, whether they plan to stay for years or are starting to think about a move. The team at Greg Clemens follows these projects block by block and is glad to share what we know about the Las Vegas Boulevard North corridor whenever you'd like to talk it through. Contact Us.
