The first section of I-215 opened to traffic in 1996 from I-15 to Warm Springs Road, including the McCarran Airport Connector and tunnel, which linked McCarran International Airport to southern metro Las Vegas without requiring motorists to use Tropicana Avenue or Russell Road to access the main passenger terminal. The southeast leg of the beltway (except for the I-515 connection) was completed ahead of schedule in 1999, while the northern end was extended from Decatur Boulevard in 1998 to Tropicana Avenue by 2000. The remaining sections in the western and northern legs of the beltway were completed by 2003 – either in their final, full freeway mode or in one of two lesser interim configurations.