Hotel-casino sues Las Vegas Grand Prix, Clark County over traffic issues

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - A Las Vegas Strip-adjacent hotel-casino sued Las Vegas Grand Prix over the traffic issues caused by the race construction and event.

Ellis Island, which is located near Koval Lane and Flamingo Road, on the circuit, is suing the race organizers and Clark County over the ongoing traffic issues.

The property makes several allegations, saying that Las Vegas Grand Prix and Clark County were not communicative of the impact the race construction and the actual race would have on its business. Namely, the construction of the Flamingo Bridge in the area blocked one of the access points to Ellis Island, which was crucial given that the front of the property faces the track.

F1 Flamingo Bridge

“F1′s announced construction schedule, inclusive of paving and constructing the Flamingo bridge, would continue to fluctuate with no advance notice to Plaintiffs, with each construction event impeding and interfering with Plaintiffs’ customers’ ingress and egress, as well as the ingress and egress of Plaintiffs’ vendors and other third-parties it conducts business with, which caused disruption to those contracts and Plaintiffs’ business and business dealings,” the lawsuit states.

Ellis Island also claims that they were told by the project manager that paving work would not impact their access to the property.

“[The project manager] represented that ‘[t]he entrances/exits for Ellis Island will not be impacted during construction.’ This representation turned out to be false,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit alleges that Clark County granted the race a “conditional use” permit to avoid some of the requirements of a “special use” permit, like a public hearing, greater notification of surrounding property owners and more rigorous approval standards. It also states that the property has “apparently entered into contractual agreements to continue to do so for up to an additional nine (9) years into the future.”

The property said their business expectations were “substantially” interfered with and that the actions of the Las Vegas Grand Prix and Clark County inflicted on the property rights of Ellis Island.

Officials with the Las Vegas Grand Prix and with Clark County said they cannot comment on pending litigation.

FOX5 filed a public records request for the race’s 2024 traffic plan, which was filed to Clark County on May 1. Clark County has declined to release the plan, saying that it is a “working draft” that needs to be reviewed by officials.