Community Corner

Expect Road Closures During Obama's Visit Monday

The president is expected to arrive at LAX, attend two campaign fundraisers in the Hancock Park area and tape an appearance with Jay Leno.

With President Barack Obama scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport in the middle of Monday afternoon's rush hour, a Westside city councilman said he has urged the Secret Service to avoid tying up traffic in parts of Los Angeles as the president motorcades to Hancock Park.

More delays were likely in the Cahuenga Pass and Burbank area, where the president is to drop in on Jay Leno early Tuesday at the NBC studios.

DASH buses in Hollywood may temporarily be rerouted or delayed due to President Obama traveling through the area, according to an alert issued by the city's Department of Transportation. Regular service will be resumed as permitted.

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Councilman Bill Rosendahl said motorists should be prepared for blockades on major east-west boulevards linking West Los Angeles with the Hancock Park area, and delays on north-south avenues that cross them. The councilman was interviewed Monday by KNX radio.

Like last month's presidential visit, Obama is expected to be flown by helicopter from LAX to the UCLA area, Rosendahl said. That will again avoid closure of the San Diego (405) Freeway.

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"From there, Sunset, Santa Monica, Pico and Olympic [boulevards] are under consideration for the route to Hancock Park for the fundraiser," Rosendahl told KNX. Major north-south streets between the San Diego (405) Freeway and Highland Avenue will be closed as the presidential motorcade passes.

Rosendahl said the exact route will not be revealed, nor will the location of where the president will spend the night.

"Tuesday morning, he goes over to NBC in Burbank to do the Jay Leno show, and then he flies out of LAX at 11:45," Rosendahl said on KNX. "That will be the trick, and that exact route has not been shared with me.''

In August 2010, traffic jams developed from Santa Monica to Inglewood to the Civic Center to Cahuenga Pass by another presidential fundraiser in Hancock Park.

A presidential appearance last month in West Hollywood resulted in gridlock only immediately near the two restaurants that hosted Obama near La Cienega Boulevard at the Sunset Strip.

Another councilman, Tom LaBonge, told motorists "you can count on street closures as the president's motorcade moves across town on Monday afternoon." Air space has also been closed over western Los Angeles to all but scheduled jetliners starting Monday afternoon.

Rosendahl told KNX he had been told by the Secret Service "over and over there will be no hard closures. After the president clears a certain location, they will immediately open up the streets."

—City News Service

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