Las Vegas Grand Prix plans smaller Flamingo Road bridge this year

The temporary Flamingo Road bridge over Koval Lane will be reduced to two lanes for this year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix to lessen its impact on area businesses, race officials announced Thursday.

Last year’s inaugural race saw a four-lane bridge on Flamingo, leaving just one surface lane in each direction to access businesses around the bridge. Those access issues left several business owners claiming millions of dollars in revenue losses.

The new temporary bridge will be installed on the south side of Flamingo, leaving all westbound traffic at grade level on Flamingo.

Reducing the vehicle bridge and moving the pedestrian bridge from the south side to the north are moves aimed to increase access to those affected businesses, race officials said.

“Consistent with our pledge to cause less disruption in the lead up to our 2024 race, we are happy to reduce the size of the Flamingo bridge thereby significantly mitigating the impact of the bridge on neighboring businesses,” Renee Wilm, CEO of Las Vegas Grand Prix Inc., said in a statement. “This new design allows us to continue to construct an incredibly complex circuit in one of the busiest destinations in the world while ensuring adequate access within the track for those who need it, especially for emergency response entities.”

The condensed bridge plan was developed in partnership with the Clark County Public Works Department and emergency management officials, including the Metropolitan Police Department.

Race executives said they have reached out to businesses to alert them to the temporary bridge change.

Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, who represents multiple businesses on Flamingo near Koval, said the businesses she represents haven’t had such talks with officials.

“First, F1 has not discussed this plan with any of the impacted businesses,” Mayo-DeRiso said in a statement. “No conversation. No plans. No anticipated impacts. So how do we know what the plan is?”

F1 officials reaffirmed to the Review-Journal their outreach efforts to all businesses adjacent to the temporary bridge, but some of the businesses referenced by Mayo weren’t available until early next week to meet.

Even with the smaller size, the bridge will still disrupt travel in the area, Mayo-DeRiso said.

“There is no mention of not only 2023 reimbursements, but 2024 coverage of almost certain losses,” she said.

The planned reduced width of the bridge will result in shorter installation and dismantling timelines, going from 10-day installation and dismantling periods last year to a seven-day period for each this year.

This year’s bridge is scheduled to be installed in mid-October, and it will be removed starting in mid-December, according to grand prix officials.

The full traffic management plan for this year’s race was submitted to Clark County in early May and is still under review. When that will be made publicly available has yet to be determined, but race officials noted construction tied to the 2024 race won’t begin until September.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.