Expect lots of speedway traffic Saturday, Sunday for NASCAR
If you think about it, maybe the NASCAR drivers racing at 200 mph will have it easiest next weekend.
They’re driving on a track of straightaways and predictable left turns, don’t have to worry about signaling and know that everyone around them is as skilled as they are.
Not so the motorists going to and from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to watch them.
Next weekend is one of Southern Nevada’s sports highlights with Saturday’s Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 race and the weekend’s feature event, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt 400, on Sunday.
More than 100,000 people are expected to pour into the speedway for Sunday’s 12:30 p.m. race, while just under 100,000 are expected for the Saturday race at 1 p.m.
While it won’t quite produce the same level of attendance, Friday night’s Sprint Cup qualifying runs at 4:45 p.m., known as Stratosphere Pole Day, should produce a good crowd and heavy traffic as well.
Getting ready for such a colossal traffic generator is no easy task, but the Speedway team, headed by Las Vegas Motor Speedway President Chris Powell, has been meeting for months with representatives of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Nevada Highway Patrol, Nellis Air Force Base, the taxicab and limousine industry and even helicopter operators to manage the ins and outs of the Speedway.
The quick advice for race fans is to travel with a friend. Better yet, travel with 54 friends — in a bus.
It’s a costly endeavor for a family but probably worth the expense to avoid the aggravation when a crowd of that magnitude has only two routes to and from town.
The quick advice for the rest of us is to stay away. If you were planning to take a picnic lunch out to Valley of Fire State Park, think again. Or, consider taking the back way via Lake Mead Boulevard and Northshore Road. That might be the best way to get to any point north on Interstate 15 if you plan to leave between 10 a.m. and noon or to return between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Of course, depending on how traffic flows and if you hit things just right, you might only slog down for a few minutes. But remember, of the thousands of people who will be on I-15 and Las Vegas Boulevard — the two recommended routes in and out — more than half will be people who don’t know their way around.
Speedway officials recommend tourists staying on the Strip take I-15 to the track and those staying downtown take Las Vegas Boulevard.
If I-15 or the Boulevard suddenly becomes a parking lot because of an accident, Lamb Boulevard and Losee Road north to the 215 Beltway are recommended alternatives.
Buses and taxicabs will benefit by using a route through Nellis AFB. There aren’t many military installations that are willing to help out by allowing civilians to use base roads for events like this, but the Speedway and Nellis have solidified their relationship over time and help each other on special occasions. Nellis, we salute you.
Race Day Shuttles, which became the event’s designated bus contractor in 2013, is offering round-trip bus service with tickets going for $50 for one day or $70 for both. Check www.racedayshuttles.com for information.
Race Day’s sister company, Key Tours, also is providing private bus charters.
Joe Mattes, president of Key Tours, said he will field 133 55-passenger buses, including 76 shuttles running to and from resorts and the track.
The other 57 are charters making one run in and one run out and will be hospitality wagons on wheels for passengers.
Bryan Kroten of Maverick Helicopters said his company will again provide VIP-style transport as the exclusive helicopter provider to the Speedway. A round-trip ticket costs $500. It’s a 10-minute flight from McCarran International Airport to the helipad just outside the infield tunnels on the south end of the track.
Most Speedway parking is free, but there is one premium lot — the Lucky 7 Preferred Lot, at $59 per day. Not only is that lot the closest to the entrance, but it has three gates and some dedicated traffic lanes in and out.
A closed gate last year caused quite an uproar for motorists trying to leave the track. Powell apologized profusely for that problem when facing the media last week and promised it won’t happen this year.
On the day of the races, there will be 25 message boards, 218 traffic signs, six traffic-control trucks, two solar arrow boards, 200 traffic drums, 24 sawhorse barricades, 100 triton barriers to mark express lanes and 1,700 42-inch traffic cones onsite. An estimated 374 man hours will be dedicated to controlling traffic.
The Speedway has a deal with KBAD AM-920 to provide traffic reports. It probably will be a good idea to listen in because alternative route recommendations might be offered if there’s a problem.
Traffic updates also will be offered on the speedway’s Twitter feed, @lvmotorspeedway. But make sure a passenger in your car is monitoring that, not you as a driver.
And if that’s not enough to keep the Speedway crew busy, track officials also will be on the lookout for counterfeit disabled-driver placards. It seems that’s been a problem in the past.
Oh, and one more thing.
Don’t forget that the annual ritual of springing forward for daylight-saving time occurs at 2 a.m. Sunday.
You don’t want to go to all the trouble and expense of experiencing NASCAR and finding out that you’re arriving as they’re getting ready to wave the checkered flag.
Questions and comments should be sent to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com. Please include your phone number. Follow @RJroadwarrior on Twitter.
ROAD WORK AHEAD
■ The 215 Beltway ramp to southbound U.S. Highway 95 will be closed from 9 p.m., Monday, to 5 a.m., Tuesday, as part of the U.S. 95 widening project between Ann Road and Durango Drive.
■ Rampart Boulevard on- and off-ramps to Summerlin Parkway closed Sunday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., through March 15 for sewer line installation.
■ Lake Mead National Recreation Area roads are being resurfaced to accommodate bicycles from Lake Mead Boulevard to Milepost 20.6 on Northshore Road. Roads in the Echo Bay area, including the campgrounds, will be smoothed and resealed. Officials expect 15-minute delays at the construction sites weekdays through May 22.
■ The far-right southbound lane of Valley View Boulevard from Tara Avenue to about 150 feet south of the intersection will be restricted Sundays through Fridays through March 12 for sewer line construction.
■ Double left-turn lanes on eastbound Sunset Road at Eastern Avenue will be closed through June 17 for a water reclamation line project.
■ Westbound Cheyenne Avenue will be reduced to one lane 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily for street repair starting Friday.
■ Street, sidewalk, lighting and landscaping improvements are scheduled on Bridger Avenue between Main and Sixth streets through April. Traffic restricted to one lane each direction.
■ Interstate 15 traffic has been shifted to southbound lanes at Milepost 16 in the Virgin River Gorge in Arizona for bridge demolition. There will be a single lane of traffic in each direction of I-15. Expect traffic delays of up to 15 minutes through April when traffic will shift to northbound lanes. Projected completion in December.
■ Traffic delays likely on 26 miles of north- and south-bound Interstate 15 between mileposts 69 and 95 through early 2015.
■ Major sewer line work continues at Durango Drive-Rampart Boulevard and Cheyenne Avenue. The project will add 1.1 miles of 30- and 36-inch sewer pipe from that intersection to the Durango Hills Water Resource Center and eastward along Cheyenne past Cimarron Road. Tunnelling begins in March and continues through December. Two travel lanes are expected to be maintained through the duration of the project. Lake Mead Boulevard is recommended as an east-west alternate route; Buffalo Drive for north-south traffic.
■ Fifth Street in North Las Vegas is closed between Cheyenne Avenue and Losee Road through February 2016 for overpass construction to connect Fifth to East Carey Avenue.
GASOLINE PRICES
The average gasoline price Friday in the Las Vegas Valley was $2.74 per gallon. It was $2.69 in Nevada. The national average of $2.38 is up 10 cents from a week ago, up 35 cents from a month ago and down $1.06 from a year ago.
