F1 remove Vegas bridge after $23m 'sold soul' complaints

A controversial bridge built in Las Vegas for last year's Vegas Grand Prix is in the process of being removed, after local business owners threatened legal action.

The temporary Flamingo Road Bridge had been constructed for the race but remained up after the race, with locals complaining of hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost business.

With the Super Bowl coming to Vegas in just over two weeks, businesses had raised serious concerns that they could lose out on significant profits around the event - and now it's been confirmed that the bridge will be removed immediately, and the dismantling should be complete by 1 February.

Lisa Mayo DeRiso, president of a firm representing the businesses near the bridge, had previously claimed that the bridge issue had cost business owners a sum in the region of $23m.

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Business owner: We sold our soul to F1

Wade Bohn, owner of Jay’s Market, said in a statement: “I’m overjoyed, I really felt like I might lose my business, but removing this bridge will allow us to get back to normal customer flow during big events like the Super Bowl.”

In previous comments to the Las Vegas Sun, Bohn had criticised the city for 'selling its soul to F1' by bending over backwards to ensure the controversial race could be held.

“I’m telling ya, if that bridge becomes permanent, I’ll be out of business 100%, no doubt about it,” he said. “We don’t need F1, Vegas is its own animal. We sold our soul to F1 when F1 should’ve sold their soul to us.”

Mayo DeRiso added: “While the press release came from F1, it is my understanding that Clark County still owns and manages the public right-aways in the resort corridor, so I give full credit for this victory for the business owners to the county commissioners that worked with us and listened to the desperate situation of the business owners."

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