Race weekend goes off without a hitch, area officials say

Before Circuit of The Americas hosted Formula One Nov. 16–18, there was chatter of impending chaos—miles of traffic logjams, downtown Austin being overrun, a helicopter-clogged airspace, and fans flocking to the waters and vistas just west of Austin.

None of that happened.

There were more people in town, there was a bit more traffic and the Lakeway hotels saw a spike in business, but chaos did not ensue.

"It went very smoothly," said Robert Kisker, general manager at Lakeway Resort and Spa. "We see so many guests from overseas, it was really just getting prepared for any other meeting that would be here."

The Resort and Spa was at 95 percent capacity for the weekend, turning what is typically a decent November into an exceptional one, Kisker said.

Over at the Lakeway Airpark, it wasn't business as usual. The airport actually saw a decrease in expected traffic. In May, Austin Bergstrom-International Airport officials warned the airpark to prepare for an influx of planes, and because the race was happening on a typically busy pre-holiday weekend, officials immediately began planning for more traffic.

"We were not overwhelmed," said Chip Freitag, a Lakeway Airpark board of trustees member. "In fact, we never ran out of parking spots. We had empty spots."

Freitag says three F1 fans showed up with their planes, and there was more than enough space to accommodate them.

With the lack of chaos, there is no reason to do anything different in planning for next year's race, Lakeway Mayor Dave DeOme said.

"We'll have the same plan we had this year. We'll have people on call in case there are issues," he said.

Although Lakeway only saw a minor blip in increased traffic because of F1, business owners liked the event and the way it was handled.

"It's a great event for Austin," Kisker said. "I hope it continues to do wonders for the economy for Austin, Lakeway and the surrounding areas."