Residents, workers and regulars report huge traffic problems and poor communications: a strike by over 30,000 workers was narrowly averted
Over the weekend, Formula 1 will return to racing in Las Vegas in one of the most anticipated events of the season. It will do so in a completely different way compared to when, between 1981 and 1982, two Grands Prix were organized in the city, remembered only for their poor success. This time Formula 1 has returned to Las Vegas to stay for a long time and to take advantage of the great growth in popularity it is having in the United States, once on the fringes of the championship and now home to three seasonal races.
The Grand Prix will be run at night on a city circuit of approximately 6 kilometers located right in the center of the city, with the main straight on the Strip, the avenue where the greatest number of the most well-known hotels and casinos are concentrated. There is a lot of curiosity and even the stables are organizing many initiatives for the occasion: at least five teams will race with dedicated liveries in Las Vegas, for example. At least 100 thousand spectators are expected on each day of competition, but this enthusiasm does not seem to concern those who live or work in Las Vegas.
For weeks circulate online images of the inconvenience created by the construction work on the circuit, which involves some of the busiest and most central streets of the city, and of how some famous attractions have been covered or overshadowed by the temporary structures that will host the races.
The site Jalopnikspecializing in North American motor sports, collected testimonies from workers, residents and regulars in Las Vegas, all quite critical towards the organizers. A member of a local workers union said: «Formula 1 has failed to understand Las Vegas, let alone the Strip. He simply sees the streets on a map, the hotel rooms to rent and the dollars to earn. Las Vegas may seem different from any other city, but in many ways it is just like any other city. People live, work and raise children here. Formula 1 doesn’t seem to care.”
The greatest inconveniences concern traffic, with journeys towards the center which in some cases, at the most critical moments of the day, take up to hours. In another testimony collected by Jalopnik we read: «The frustration and discomfort of Las Vegas residents also comes from the lack of communication with us and coordination between event promoters».
One of the maps illustrating weekly closures and traffic changes in downtown Las Vegas
Also due to these inconveniences, and the limited support received from companies, just one week after the event, over 30 thousand members of the restaurant workers’ union they threatened a strike that could have paralyzed both the city center and the entire reception structure. The strike was averted only after the union managed to negotiate “a significant wage increase” for workers in the sector and therefore for the tens of thousands employed in Las Vegas this week.
For other visitors to the centre, the arrival of Formula 1 has made an already critical situation even more complex, although its origins lie elsewhere. In fact, for years the city has been preparing to become one of the great centers of professional sport in the world and for this reason new entertainment facilities have been built which have required major improvements to the road network. There are high-traffic roads that have been under construction for years, the times of which have also been lengthened by the pandemic, and interurban junctions that have inevitably lengthened the journeys. Added to all this is the change in traffic itself, given that the three large sports arenas already built in the city are still served by the same roads designed for the old traffic of commuters and workers.
The new Las Vegas circuit is a sort of irregular rectangle over 6 kilometers long which has made the busiest area of the city inaccessible to traffic, the one where there are some of the biggest attractions, such as the Flamingo, the Venetian, Planet Hollywood and the Sphere, the new arena approximately 111 meters high and covered with 1.2 million ultra-high definition LEDs. But the areas outside the circuit ring are also closed to traffic, and there are other large hotels with casinos, such as the Caesar Palace, which attract constant flows of tens of thousands of workers and customers.
At the beginning of the 1980s, Caesar Palace financed and sponsored the first two races that Formula 1 held in Las Vegas. The circuit was created between the casino car park and a space that was still deserted at the time. The result was a narrow, flat track of three and a half kilometers with 14 curves that twisted on themselves to meet the minimum length of 3.2 kilometers required by Formula 1. Due to the presence of all these curves, combined with the high temperatures, the pilots had great difficulty driving. Both editions also went rather badly in terms of attendance, which never exceeded 30 thousand spectators.
After that failure, Formula 1 will present itself in Las Vegas in a completely different way, starting with a circuit that could contain at least three times the size of the old Caesar Palace track. The current contract between Las Vegas and Formula 1 is for three years, but there are plans to extend it to ten which will also depend on the success of these first editions.
– Read also: Formula 1 wants to reduce environmental impact, but it does the opposite
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2023-11-15 13:52:39
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