LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Formula One repaving has raced back to the Las Vegas Strip, while the lights of the nearby Sphere are making traffic worse.
A second round of repaving for the November race began Wednesday night at the Sands intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard. Eastbound Spring Mountain and westbound Sands are blocked to drivers trying to cross the Strip at this intersection.
Instead, drivers on Sands are directed northbound to Las Vegas Boulevard, while those on Spring Mountain head southbound. In either direction, traffic congestion sandwiches drivers between bumper-to-bumper traffic that can last several blocks around these areas.
It’s a sight that rideshare drivers like Elia Vosough say is costing them money and passengers time.
“I’m not like a taxi driver. I don’t have any meter,” Vosough said before picking up his next passengers at the airport. “Most of the time, the passenger complains (about) the time. It is not me. It is the traffic.”
This repaving continues through Friday morning, ahead of a weeklong break leading into another repaving round in the same area on Monday, July 24.
But, another cause of traffic headaches in the area: a big ball of light and all the people trying to see it.
The Sphere met the world on the Fourth of July during its first public illumination last week. Ever since, cars have flocked to the area, especially at night.
Metro police’s Calls for Service Dashboard reports a handful of traffic accidents, about six, on the portions of Sands and Koval directly next to the Sphere since July 4. This number does not include the accidents where police were not called.
Erin Breen, director of UNLV’s Road Equity Alliance Project, acknowledges those causing safety concerns are the drivers that park in through lanes and then run through traffic to get the perfect picture of the Sphere.
“These are not ‘pedestrians,’” Breen said next to the Sphere Thursday morning, using air quotes. “Running across the street where you don’t belong, stopping in the middle of traffic, those are unpredictable things. Those cause terrible crashes.”
But, with the repaving now backing up traffic to speeds much slower than when the Sphere first illuminated, she says with “bumper-to-bumper traffic, you don’t die.”
When asked about traffic and safety concerns last week, Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom said he was unaware of any complaints yet.
“If people are having car accidents outside or the people who live next door are saying ‘we can’t sleep at night,’ then we’re going to ask them to tone it down a bit,” Segerblom said. “There was a big display Fourth of July. No one complained to me, which is unusual.”
As for where people should stand to get the perfect shot of the new ball of light, both Sphere and Clark County officials tell 8 News Now they are not recommending specific viewing areas.
“Safety and security are our priority and we work closely with the county on all matters related to the venue,” a Sphere Entertainment spokesperson said in a statement to 8 News Now Thursday.
