LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) -Some business owners say they aren’t satisfied with changes to the temporary bridge plan for this year’s F1 race.
The Las Vegas Grand Prix announced the new changes today, which were meant to better accommodate nearby businesses.
Businesses in the area say they lost millions from the bridge last year, and are suing to get that money back.
“Last year was absolutely horrible. No one could get into our business or get out,” the owner of Battista’s Hole in the Wall, Randy Markin, says.
Thursday’s announcement stated the bridge will be reduced from four lanes to two.
“It’s a bridge that carries everybody up and over the entrance to my business. You’re making it two lanes instead of four, there’s no difference this year to last year,” the owner of Jay’s Market, Wade Bohn, says.
A Grand Prix Spokesperson says the bridge reduction was determined with Clark County and other emergency management officials, who confirmed that two lanes will provide safe access.
The bridge is also going to go up and be taken down quicker, from ten days to seven days. Also, it will now be up from mid-October to mid-December, compared to last year, when it stayed up until just before the Super Bowl.
“For three months, we’re going to be going through this again, and we’re supposed to feel better about it?” Markin says.
Markin and Bohn say they’re also frustrated by the lack of communication about the new plans from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
A Grand Prix Spokesperson says they “reached out to all the businesses along the Flamingo bridge and met with the majority of them specific to the bridge reduction.”
Markin and Bohn say differently.
“The first we knew about the bridge was this press release,” Markin says.
Both parties agreed to meet next week.
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