Paving plan set for F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix racetrack

Initial paving operations for the Las Vegas Grand Prix’s road course are to begin next month.

Plans call for a phased approach, running April 2-7 on Sands Avenue, according to Terry Miller of Miller Project Management, who is leading the work on the Formula One circuit and the race’s paddock building.

From there work will shift to the Las Vegas Strip, where initial paving operations are scheduled to take place April 9 through May 19. That work will only occur on the southbound lanes of the Strip.

‘We’ve spent a lot of time in the community’

Crews will work on one to two lanes at a time, and traffic will be shifted to the northbound lanes, where two-way traffic will be in place at times, according to Miller.

Miller noted that the Strip will not be fully shut down during the paving work.

“We’ve spent a lot of time in the community, with the properties, talking about our paving project,” Miller said Tuesday during a presentation to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Board of Directors.

Following the Strip work, paving operations will shift to Harmon Avenue, with that work set to take place May 22 through May 26.

Koval Lane work will begin following that, with initial paving operations set to take place June 11-16.

Then from June 19-30, the initial paving of the circuit within the paddock site, located at the intersection of Koval and Harmon, is set to take place.

Final steps

The last phase of the initial paving work for the race circuit is set to take place Aug. 21-25 around the MSG Sphere portion of the circuit.

Medians will be removed on Koval, Harmon and Sands, Miller noted. Only a small portion of a median will be removed on the Strip near Harmon, Miller added.

How the roadwork will be paid for is still in discussion. Race officials are looking to land up to $37 million in public funding to help pay for the work. The final estimate has yet to be announced but could be over $74 million, based on LVCVA president and CEO Steve Hill’s comments.

“Thirty-seven million dollars, which is less than half of the cost of the entire circuit,” Hill said. “That conversation hasn’t passed that initial presentation.”

The inaugural race is expected to generate an estimated $1 billion economic impact to Southern Nevada.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend is scheduled for Nov. 16-18. The race will take place at night and will consist of 50 laps around a 3.8-mile course spanning portions of the Strip, Koval, Harmon and Sands. Speeds of up to 212 mph are expected to be reached during the race.

Following initial paving operations, final paving will need to be carried out ahead of the race. The final phases will begin in mid-July, running in a phased approach similar to the initial track paving work but with shorter time lengths.

“The last paving is basically two inches of what is the racing surface,” Miller said. “This is a much more dense asphalt and composition than what we currently have on the roadway.”

Final track paving work will begin on Sands, running July 16-21. Work then shifts to Las Vegas Boulevard between July 23-28 before moving to Harmon between July 30 and Aug. 4.

The paddock site’s final paving is set for Aug. 6-11. Koval follows that Aug. 13-18, and the final paving operations wrap up Sept. 10-15 around the MSG Sphere site.

“So this is the program that we’re going to be going through, from April all the way to September,” Miller said. “It will be a disruption, obviously, but again, very similar to any other roadway project that we’ve had to live through in the valley.”

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