The inaugural Formula One (F1) Las Vegas Grand Prix is coming to the Strip November 16-18, and there are a lot of things to be excited about—the influx of high-paying international clientele, the expansion of Las Vegas as a sports destination and the race itself, which will take place on a 3.8-mile track that weaves through Las Vegas Boulevard and surrounding areas.
However, that doesn’t mean that the planning process is going smoothly. In fact, tensions are starting to rise throughout the city, and the engines haven’t even started yet.
The first and perhaps biggest complaint that race officials are facing are the massive traffic jams that the track construction is causing in some of the busiest areas of the city.
According to the Las Vegas Sun, tempers flared in a recent Clark County Commission meeting, in which Strip workers told horror stories related to the traffic and its impacts on their commutes. Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick scolded race officials for failing to provide adequate transportation alternatives for workers.
“The truth is, if you went on the Strip — which I’m happy to take ya — at four o’clock every day, let you sit for two hours in front of one of those venues, you would have a different perspective,” Kirkpatrick said, per the Sun. “My employees — and I say mine, but they’re Clark County’s employees — they cannot walk two miles, then do their jobs for eight hours, stand on the hard floor and then walk two miles to get to their cars.”
Of course, these issues will only get worse as the race approaches, especially as the 100,000-plus expected spectators start to roll in from around the world.
The race’s Senior Director of Event Operations Lauren DelFrago told commissioners that parking for workers will be set up at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and the facility’s monorail system will run non-stop on race days from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m.
DelFrago promised that race officials would secure more parking lots, but couldn’t give details as to where those lots would be or how workers could get to their properties. She asserted that her team was working directly with casinos to “ “finalize and communicate the details of these plans,” according to the Sun.
Terry Miller, head of construction for the event, also noted that weekly meetings have been taking place with operators about these potential issues, and alternative modes of transportation such as shuttles and rideshares were currently being discussed.
“There’s a lot riding on this, right?” Kirkpatrick said at one point, per the Sun. “One, our brand because our brand means something, that’s why you’re here and we can’t have it go bad either. But two, our employees live here and they’re a part of the community and they can make or break you.”
In addition to the traffic, the construction itself is also causing frustration. In one instance, a line of mature trees was removed from the front of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in order to make way for spectator grandstands.
“This work is part of preparations for the Las Vegas Grand Prix and our efforts to provide the best possible experience through improved visibility, mobility and pedestrian access and safety,” Bellagio owners MGM Resorts said in a statement to the Nevada Independent.
A spokesperson for MGM also told the outlet that some of the trees would be recycled into mulch for use in parks across southern Nevada, whereas others would be stored and replanted sometime around New Year’s Eve.
Some local residents have already taken up the issue by circulating a petition on Change.org for the operator to pledge to plant new trees in the city to compensate for the removals.
The petition was first created by local resident Krista Diamond, who told the Independent that any and all trees are vital to Las Vegas, which is “one of the fastest-warming cities in America.”
And of course, any discussion of race snafus has to include the recent licensing fee debacle, in which F1 sent letters to numerous Strip-facing venues telling them to pay steep licensing fees of $1,500 per person multiplied by the venue’s maximum capacity. Any non-compliers would have their race views obstructed, the letters said.
A copy of the letter was soon reported by the New York Post, which cited several anonymous Strip executives who were not happy to be essentially shaken down for astronomical fees that in most cases exceeded $1 million.
Given that Strip venues—which cost millions, if not billions to develop in the first place—were already dealing with road closures and high promotional costs, the idea of having to pay additional fees just to view the race did not sit well with operators and business owners.
For its part, F1 confirmed the requests, saying that it was common practice for its other races, some of which also take place in urban areas such as Monaco. However, operators argued that the goal of bringing the race to the city was to convince its affluent fanbase to look at Las Vegas as a destination to visit several times a year, rather than just once for the race.
In the end, the public pressure paid off, as F1 announced in late August that it was backing off of the original fee structure, and would instead ask for a flat fee of about $50,000.
“This venue fee is much smarter,” an anonymous source told the Post at the time. “It’s much more in line with what the Super Bowl will charge” when it comes to Las Vegas in February of next year.
