LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The inaugural Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix experienced a few "bumps" in the road from traffic headaches, ugly construction, and high prices.
This year, the question remains: "Will residents remember the fun of fast cars, or will hosting the race again bring even more headaches for our community?"
“A significant portion of our year two planning has been to respond to local concerns,” said Renee Wilm, CEO of the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Johnathan Arana works at a ticket stand on the Las Vegas Strip. He said he’s hopeful that there will be less of an impact this year, specifically referring to traffic.
“I’m hoping it’s a lot more organized, I understand that it was our first year,” Arana said.
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In 2023, the year of the inaugural race, the Las Vegas Strip was taken over by crews who were repaving the road for the race as well as building grandstands and adding improved lighting. The construction caused massive backups on the Strip for nearly nine months.
“Getting to work definitely took longer. A 20-minute drive turned into maybe an hour drive. It also makes you spend a lot more on gas,” Arana said.
He said the ticket stand typically stays busy, but the business took a hit with last year's F1 construction.
“It confused a lot of people as to where they’re going to get picked up for certain tours, because we obviously didn’t have access to the Strip anymore,” Arana said.
In a Clark County Commission meeting on Tuesday, F1 officials acknowledged the conflicts the Las Vegas community experienced in year one and claimed to have made adjustments for year two.
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F1 will be using a new scheduling chart for construction planning, which reveals when crews will be working on the track path. The construction is mainly during overnight hours. Race officials said the chart should help alleviate traffic backups, making workflow more predictable this year.
F1 officials said construction will start September 2 at the intersection of Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard with track lighting.
The lighting will go up similar to last year on the sidewalk, this will happen through the end of September. Track barriers will be installed towards the end of September. Traffic lane changes will be seen when track barriers are set up.
A couple of weeks prior to the race, the enclosures on the pedestrian bridges on Las Vegas Boulevard will go up similar to last year. Opaque sidewalls will go up on the bridges so spectators cannot see on the track, which is a change for this year's Grand Prix.
All of these construction projects will start at Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. The projects will move counterclockwise through the path until it ends on Las Vegas Boulevard. This path will be used for each of the projects.
F1 officials said this change was made along with Metro Police. The safety camera positions will still be active for safety protocols.
All construction will happen overnight, except for a few closures during the construction of the now two-lane Flamingo Bridge on Flamingo Road over Koval Lane.
The current schedule is a 'working schedule' meaning F1 officials will have meetings with Clark County Public Works and other agencies to be in full collaboration with each other.
“As long as it’s more organized and people know what’s going on, I don't see it hurting anything,” Arana said.
Formula 1 drivers will be zooming through Las Vegas November 21 through November 23 for the second year of the Grand Prix.
