Expect Traffic Nightmare During Obama's Visit Today

President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive at LAX at about 4:50 p.m. today and a Westside city councilman urged the Secret Service to avoid tying up traffic parts of Los Angeles as the president motorcades to Hancock Park.

More delays were likely in the Cahuenga Pass and Burbank area, as the president drops in on Jay Leno at the NBC studios. Plus, airborne traffic reporters will be grounded.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl said in a radio interview that motorists should be prepared for blockades on major east-west boulevards linking West Los Angeles with the Hancock Park area, and for delays on north-south avenues that cross them.

Like a presidential arrival last month, Obama was 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.

"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 be 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 (a.m.),'' Rosendahl said. "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,'' Airspace has also been closed over western Los Angeles to all but scheduled jetliners starting Monday afternoon.

Rosendahl said that he was 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 Servce