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Las Vegas knew it would have to grapple with plenty of logistical issues when it agreed to host the F1 race that will be held in the city on November 19th. The event will impact plenty of people who live there—including a number of residents who call the tunnels underneath its streets home.
F1 hasn’t held a race in Sin City since 1982, and there’s no doubt the glitz and glamour the gambling and entertainment mecca is known for will be on full display when the Las Vegas Grand Prix makes its grand return this week.
When most people hear the words “Las Vegas,” it conjures up a mental image of the neon-soaked spectacle that awaits visitors who hit up one of the many casinos that line The Strip. However, I think most people are also aware that shiny facade isn’t necessarily reflective of the city as a whole.
Las Vegas (to borrow a quote from King of the Hill) is a monument to man’s arrogance. The middle of a desert in Nevada is an objectively terrible place to construct a sprawling metropolis that attracts tens of millions of tourists on an annual basis, and city planners had to take those conditions into account as it grew in size.
While Las Vegas doesn’t get a ton of rainfall, storms have the potential to spawn some disastrous flooding that’s mitigated by the hundreds of miles of tunnels underneath the surface that are used to funnel the water away from the streets. Those tunnels are also home to hundreds of people who can’t afford a place to live, but they’ll be forced to relocate when Formula One officially descends upon the town.
According to a YouTuber who visited an entrance to one of the tunnels prior to the race, the city has posted signs informing the people inside them that a “tactical unit” will be dispatched on November 15th to “clear them of any human presence” until November 20th.
It appears that the decision is a security measure to prevent people from potentially infiltrating the track above (manhole covers will also be welded down, although that serves a dual purpose due to safety concerns stemming from a projectile being launched by a car).
What a world.