Will F1 preparations be as disruptive as last year? Officials promise they won’t

Work is tentatively planned to begin Sept. 1 near the intersection of Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard, with the installation of track lighting, according to a preliminary work schedule grand prix officials presented to Clark County commissioners on Tuesday.

Work is mainly scheduled to take place overnight between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., outside of the Strip, where work is planned to occur between midnight and 9 a.m.

This year, work will gradually progress around the 3.8-mile circuit, with lighting installation then moving to Koval Lane, then Sands Avenue and then Las Vegas Boulevard. Track lighting installation will occur through the end of October.

Track barrier installation will begin Oct. 1 and last through mid-November, following a similar work pattern as the lighting installation, as far as beginning on Harmon and moving around the circuit in a counter-clockwise manner.

Lane reductions will occur during overnight work hours on affected roads, mainly between one and two lanes, depending on the road, according to Terry Miller, principal of Miller Project Management, who is again leading race-related infrastructure operations.

Teardown of event infrastructure will begin the week of Nov. 25 and last through the week of Dec. 23.

Last year’s nine months of infrastructure-related work — which caused traffic headaches for those traveling in-and-around the resort corridor — involved six months of repaving operations, something that won’t be seen this year. Major repaving of the track is not expected for six years, but officials will survey the roads each year to ensure they are up to Formula One specifications, Miller said.

“So that way we’re following ourselves around the entire circuit, so that that we end up at the end together,” Miller said. “The whole idea there is that it is much more predictable for traffic patterns, because last year we were literally hop-scotching around, based upon where the paving was and how the paving was going.”

The Las Vegas Grand Prix footed the entire bill for the $80 million paving project last year, with an initial $40 million ask from race officials to the county to help pay for half of the work no longer being sought, according to Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm.

Hope for ‘much smoother lead-up’

Grand prix officials will launch a website the week of Aug. 19 that will detail roadwork occurring around the circuit, to help drivers plan their commutes around potential traffic conflicts.

“It is my sense that we’re going to have a much smoother lead-up (to race week),” Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson said.

Construction of a downsized temporary Flamingo Road bridge over Koval is planned to occur over seven days in October, Miller said. The bridge is planned to offer one lane in each direction, reduced from two lanes in each direction last year, with the set-up time estimated to take three fewer days than in 2023.

To set up the bridge, the intersection of Flamingo and Koval will be closed to traffic for a week starting the night of Oct. 13. That, Miller said, will result in the only daytime road closures tied to set-up work, with the full week closure needed for construction safety elements tied to the bridge’s construction.

“We worked with the local businesses to find out a week that was least disruptive as possible,” Miller said.

Bridge to bankruptcy

Six business owners say they lost a combined $30 million last year tied to the months of roadwork and the Flamingo bridge being in place for weeks tied to the 2023 race.

Some of those business owners took to public comment before the commission meeting to let it be known they still don’t support the bridge’s return, urging the board to not approve the race.

Randy Markin, owner of Battista’s Hole in the Wall restaurant and the Stage Door bar and casino, located on Flamingo Road, just west of the Koval intersection, said the bridge and road work almost put him out of business.

“We lost employees and millions of dollars in those eight months of F1 disruption,” Markin said during the meeting. “F1 has said it outright, they will not write any of us a reimbursement check. They don’t care.”

With the bridge scheduled to return for this year’s race, Markin anticipates similar business effects, even with the downsizing of the structure.

The county will continue to meet with the affected businesses to see if they can work through some of their issues, Gibson said.

“There will be some outreach made in the next weeks that will demonstrate to us whether or not we can do something that makes sense, or not,” Gibson said. “I believe we can.”

Wilm said race officials have met with affected business owners and are exploring ways to include them in the 2024 race.

“Many members of our team have reached out and have actually engaged in discussions looking for ways to bring them into this year’s event,” Wilm said. “We are going to continue to reach out and look for ways that we can constructively engage together.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.