What Is F1 Doing to the Strip That's Taking So Long?

What exactly is F1 doing to the Strip and the rest of the race circuit that's taking so long to accomplish? And with all the road work being done, does this mean that road work will be done every year for the next 10 years prior to the race?

And

I was recently in Las Vegas. We took a cab from Paris downtown and almost immediately our cab driver started swearing up a storm. He screamed, over and over, “They were supposed to finish with this yesterday!” Traffic was impacted on the Strip by large orange cones, presumably because of the F1 racing plan. The driver got off the Strip as soon as possible, but it took an extra 10 minutes to get downtown. Are preparations for the race falling behind? And is every taxi/Uber/Lyft driver angry about the plans?

[Editor's Note: The answer to the first question is graciously provided by Peter B., a highly astute observer of the Las Vegas scene and, therefore one of our most valuable correspondent/experts.]

I've been interested in F1 racing ever since my dad took me to watch the races in nearby Zandvoort, The Netherlands, when I was only six years old. We just wandered around the infield, watching the race from the top of a dune. No TV coverage back in the '50s. The cars were much different then. I could easily have won those races with a much safer, currently available, street-legal, reasonably priced sports car.

Over time, I collected a lot of information about what's going on with F1 cars, drivers, and tracks. It's a lot more complicated than most people realize.

Everyone is frustrated about the lane closures in preparation for the F1 race in Las Vegas, wondering why it takes so long. Here is the explanation.

Over many decades, Public Works has been patching up cracks and potholes in the asphalt. When the road condition gets too bad, they roughen up the top layer and lay a thin layer of new asphalt on top to smoothen it out for a quick fix. In the summer heat, this layer softens, expands, forms bumps and bubbles, and separates from the underlying layers. In the winter, it gets brittle, contracts, and cracks. Rain water seeps into the cracks and between the layers, worsening the separation. Then the heavy traffic breaks up the top layer, causing chunks of asphalt to come off, creating new cracks and potholes.

This creates a dangerous situation. A single piece of gravel at highway speed can crack a car's windshield. Imagine what it will do to a racecar driver's visor at 220 mph. It could kill him.

After assessing the condition of the pavement on the streets to be used for the track, F1 deemed them unsafe and decided to do the right thing: Dig up and discard the multiple layers of crap that accumulated over time all the way down to the desert sand. Then start all over with a fresh layer of gravel, compact it, and lay down one single thick base layer of asphalt. Let it sit for a while to have traffic compact it even more, then finish it with a 1.75-inch layer of smooth high-density asphalt on top.

This makes it safe for the drivers, racecars, and spectators. The pavement should last for at least six years, unless there's a utility problem like a water-main rupture, collapse of a sewer line, or a storm-drain culvert undermining the road. We will get to enjoy driving on a smooth surface without any cracks, bumps, or potholes for years to come. And no more cones!

So bear with it for a couple more weeks, it will be worth the inconvenience in the long run. Check Google maps or Waze for traffic before you go somewhere.

Thank you, Peter. As for the second questions, no, the road work isn't falling behind. As evidenced by the first answer, it's a big job, but it's on schedule. And yes, all drivers, not just cabbies and ride shares, who have to fade the Strip and race circuit are angry about the preparations. (One friend who works at Ellis Island says it sometimes takes him an extra hour to get to work, with the longest two hours.)

But as you can imagine, people whose livelihood depends on getting from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible have been working under the constant pressure and stress of the slowdowns in Cone City. Hopefully, the booming business brought in by the race in November will trickle down to those who've been most impacted by the lead-up.

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Kevin Lewis Sep-05-2023

The true cost

They have been continually prattling about the billions and skillions and megafrillions that the F1 (noble saviors) will bring to the Vegas economy, but what about all the multigazillions that already have been and are still being SUBTRACTED from the Vegas economy? As in, millions of people stuck in traffic? Is their time worth nothing? If you doom everyone to half an hour longer sitting in their car, is that cost nonexistent or inconsequential? How about if you repeat it every day for six months?

'Twas ever thus. Fuck over the little guy, the average Joe--that's invisible. And Joe still pays his gas/highway taxes that supposedly are spent to ensure that he can get to where he's going. That happens UNLESS some consortium of casino megatoilets decides his time isn't worth jack shit and is infinitely expendable.

Fuck the Formula 1 bullshit and everything and everyone connected with it. Zoom bloody zoom.

John Hearn Sep-05-2023

True cost Kevster

Bless your heart.

pivoss Sep-05-2023

I need to know

while you were typing the sentence "Hopefully, the booming business brought in by the race in November will trickle down to those who've been most impacted by the lead-up.", how could you see clearly through the hysterical tears of laughter?

Sandra Ritter Sep-05-2023

pivoss

Well said. It's as if you read my mind.

Texas Transplant Sep-05-2023

Is F1 paying for this???

From question above
"After assessing the condition of the pavement on the streets to be used for the track, F1 deemed them unsafe and decided to do the right thing: Dig up and discard the multiple layers of crap that accumulated over time all the way down to the desert sand. "

Another irrational, "pie in the sky" boondoggle that a city gets sucked into, like the last several Olympics.

O2bnVegas Sep-05-2023

what would have been said

I appreciate the explanation(s) about what weather changes does to street pavement.  I'll assume this is the case most everywhere, "over many decades."  Hasn't almost everybody encountered this where you live?  Cracks and potholes?  Bumps and bubbles?  Chunks of asphalt peeling off, more cracks and potholes?  We can call 311 and report potholes and all sorts of other road problems, hoping to see them repaired the next day...yeah, right...maybe in front of the mayor's house.  But we know ours isn't the only call on their list.  So we wait...and eventually the thing is fixed!  For a while until the weather changes.

I appreciate the F1 people looking at this, realizing what could happen, and taking the unpopular measures to do it right, as inconvenient as it is for just about everybody.  For a while, anyway.

Imagine the comments if that weren't the case and disaster happened?!

Candy

Randall Ward Sep-05-2023

drivers

Drivers tend to curse and rave anyway.  I hope the robot drivers will not be able to talk

Peter Bijlsma Sep-05-2023

Avoid F1 construction

Taxi and ride share drivers should know by now how to avoid the Strip and Koval. Access the resorts from the back via Audrie and Linq Ln. and on the west side via Frank Sinatra.

Louis666 Sep-05-2023

F1

Can't think of a bigger waste of time. Glad if they are at least getting some roads fixed. Though why it did it need this to get it done.

Doozey Sep-05-2023

F 1 postcards

Get your F 1 postcards only $6,000 for 5.

Ray Sep-05-2023

How ironic

You guys always cry about how terrible things are on the strip...yet now you complain that you can't get there.

AlwaysTails Sep-05-2023

Irony

The only thing drivers hate more than potholes is when they get fixed.

gaattc2001 Sep-05-2023

Kevin is absolutely right, as (almost) always...

Everything I see or read about F1 screams "boondoggle." My plan is to stay far away from Las Vegas for the the race weekend itself and a few weeks before and after. Fortunately, that's easier than it used to be. And as an alternative to Kevin's last sentence, I'll just say again: let's hope nobody gets killed or injured.

But here's an interesting quote: "The pavement should last for at least six years, unless there's a utility problem like a water-main rupture, collapse of a sewer line, or a storm-drain culvert undermining the road." And how likely is that over six years? I predict that they'll be doing localized repairs a few weeks prior every year after the first; and more each year than the last. 

How did I get so cynical? Must have been Watergate....

Back in Alabama in the 1960's, my old Dad used to say that when you saw the street-repair crews out, you knew that an election was coming up. It's a different indicator here, but a variation of the same principle.

Cheers.

Luis Sep-05-2023

Very Few

F1 is going to benefit......an elite few. For most Vegas tourists and locals it's just a nuisance, it's going to be a nightmare, the strip will be taken over by F1, and the regular people are just going to suffer. I don't see any upside for regular tourist, locals, and even the resorts who are having problems with the high prices driven by the greedy F1 organizers. I will not be part of that disaster.

Question of the Day - 05 September 2023

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