President Obama is scheduled to be in Southern California on May 7 and May 8, 2014, which may cause moderate to severe traffic conditions during his time here.
The President will be attending a fundraiser at the home of Alan and Cindy Horn in Bel Air on May 7 and he will then be honored at a dinner hosted by the USC Shoah Foundation in Century City. The President is scheduled to stay overnight and attend a DNC function in Los Angeles Thursday morning before traveling to San Diego, from there the President will move on to San Jose; there he will spend the night on Thursday where there will be additional functions in the San Jose before heading back to Washington DC on Friday.
While the exact travel plans, routes and times for the President are never released here are some basic assumptions:
– May 7 Bel Air- The President will likely arrive to LAX late morning or early afternoon before attending the function in Bel Air, he will either travel by helicopter to an area on the west side to meet up with his motorcade or could motorcade from LAX to Bel Air. In either case we can expect west side traffic to be affected in and around the 405 and 10 freeway intersection, including all surface streets in the area. Wilshire Blvd and Sunset Blvd could be heavily impacted. At the conclusion of the event, it is believed the President will travel directly from Bel Air to Century City; while these two destinations are relatively close to each other, there is the potential for severe traffic issues on the west side during that time. The exact time of travel has not been determined.
– May 7 Century City – In the evening, the President will be appearing at the Century Plaza Hotel for an event hosted by the USC Shoah Foundation. The reception for the event begins at 5:00pm with the actual dinner starting at 6:45pm. The President could arrive at any time before the 6:45pm start as this has not been announced. We can expect street closures throughout Century City which could cause serious traffic delays, especially the closer this occurs to 5pm. As the President typically stays overnight in Beverly Hills when in Los Angeles, it is likely he will do so at the conclusion of the event. As this will be later in the evening, this should not have a major impact on traffic, but will include street closures in the area.
– May 8 Beverly Hills– The President is attending a DNC function in the morning at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. This is a usual overnight location for the President and lends to the belief that this is where he will be staying. The President will be attending a lunch/fundraiser at the home of Irwin Jacobs in La Jolla so we can expect additional west side traffic delays early to mid-morning as the President makes his way out of the area to attend this event.
Again, the exact travel plans are never confirmed and the information provided could change at any time. As with all Presidential motorcades, they will involve rolling street closures as the motorcade moves through an area. You can expect to see Department of Transportation officers stationed throughout the west side during the President’s stay in the area. There are always alternate routes pre-planned so just because you see DOT in a specific area, that doesn’t automatically mean those streets will be affected.
