LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – When the Formula One circuit – which runs directly through the Las Vegas Strip before drifting around the new MSG Sphere and Paddock Building – turns hot, over 20,000 hotel rooms will be isolated on the inside of it.
However, as the classic Las Vegas hospitality experience is still expected, hotel and casino workers officially learned Tuesday that their commute during racing week will be a bit of a journey.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) Board of Directors unanimously approved to begin the proposal process for a $300,000 shuttle contract to transport those working inside the circuit to work during massive road closures that will span 9 hours daily across three racing days.
“There will be considerable constraints on traffic as a result of the race,” LVCVA COO Brian Yost said to the board during the Tuesday meeting. “Particularly those who work the shifts that are most affected: 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.”
LVCVA President and CEO, Steve Hill said the marketing organization is additionally offering around 4,300 parking spots inside the Las Vegas Convention Center parking lot to employees. It’s the first of an expected 10 different lots, as Hill said hotel properties are creating their parking arrangements too.
“We want to be able to tell a driver of a bus, ‘move to route B from route A’ because that’s going to be a better route into the circuit,” Hill said to media after the Tuesday meeting, speaking about how these shuttles will navigate potential bumper-to-bumper traffic. “It just makes the limited access inside the circuit the most efficient.”
What the route will look like, how many stops it will have, and how long it will take to transport employees to hotel and casino properties remain unknown as of now.
This is in conjunction with monorail transportation, which has a stop inside the convention center parking lot. Hill said the shuttles are to supplement capacity so that the monorail does not have to transport high volumes of workers – along with the average tourist – throughout the multi-day ticketed event.
It’s unclear as of now whether the resorts will pay for the employee monorail fares or if employees will pay out of pocket. Hill acknowledged during the Tuesday meeting that he expects the employers to eventually cover the cost.
The Culinary Union, which represents a majority of hospitality workers on the Las Vegas Strip, was unavailable for comment Tuesday.
Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge told 8 News Now in September that, “Our members are going to have to come to work early. They’re going to have to stay late. There’s going to have to be some compensation for that.”
The Las Vegas Grand Prix’s full traffic control plan is expected to be submitted to Clark County this month, according to Yost.
