Update 2:39pm
Obama left around 10pm. There was some congestion due to the rolling closures along Wilshire and Santa Monica but it all cleared up after he left. Thus brings ObamaJam IV to an end.
Update 9:53am
Reader Chris Neven reports he’s been stuck on a Line 4 bus for almost an hour – that’s the one that runs down Santa Monica.
Wilshire and Santa Monica seem to be the worst streets across the westside right now.
Update 9:26am
Wilshire closed at Beverly in both directions via @5LiveTraffic and @WeHoDaily
Update 9:19am (9-27-2011)
“Wheels up” (take off time) for Obama is supposed to be around 10pm. We’ll start to see rolling closures for about 20 minutes while he is motorcaded to the VA.
Update 9:35pm
Our friends @WeHoDaily (www.wehodaily.com) report that most of the parking restrictions should be lifted by 10pm.
Update 8:24pm
Basically just some heavy traffic around La Cienega and Melrose. Robertson Blvd is moving fine. Obama will head out to his hotel (most likely Beverly Hilton) and there should be nothing but minor traffic issues. He’s scheduled to leave around 10am tomorrow morning so we’ll keep you updated.
Update 6:45pm
Obama is leaving the House of Blues and is heading over to the next event at the Fig and Olive
Line 2, 302 buses are resuming thei regular routes
Line 218 is detouring via Fairfax to Olympic, then R0bertson and 3rd to Cedars.
Line 105-705 is detouring via Fairfax between Olympic and Sunset
Line 305 is detouring via Fairfax, Olympic, Doheny, Wilshire and Westwood.
Update 6:09pm
Reader Josh Rotarius reports that they’ve closed La Cienega at Beverly.
Update 5:45pm
Metro tells us that Bus lines 2 and 302 are on their regular route between Downtown and Fairfax. However, between Fairfax and Pacific Palisades, they will detour via Santa Monica, Wilshire, San Vicente and Bundy.
West Hollywood Mayor John Duran says some West Hollywood streets will open up temporarily to relieve traffic while the president speaks.
Update 5:31pm
Ok… he’s at the House of Blues so it’s safe to escape now.
West Hollywood is pretty locked down so try to stay as far south as possible if you need to travel.
Update 5:25pm
Hearing traffic is stopped on Sunset and Montana
Update 5:15pm
We continue to monitor, but it appears many people got out ahead of the president because traffic around the westside actually looks a bit better than normal.
Update 5:01pm
We have confirmation that Sunset Blvd is blocked off as far east as Crescent Heights / Laurel Cyn… but Crescent Heights / Laurel Canyon remain open.
Update 4:45pm
The president has boarded the Marine 1 helicopter and is probably headed to the VA when he will be driven to House of Blues.
Update 4:38pm
President has landed.
Update 4:35pm
President Obama will be landing soon at LAX. So far, the traffic on surface streets on the westside isn’t too bad. It looks like everyone planned ahead and stayed out of the area. 405 NORTH and 101 NORTH heading to the Valley are heavy.
Update 4:06pm
The president has just boarded Air Force 1 at Miramar in San Diego – he’ll be headed to LA and should land in about half an hour.
Update 3:17pm
The latest info we have is that the President is expected to land sometime after 4pm.
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President Obama is returning to LA on Monday, September 26th to separate the entertainment big wigs from their money. Two fundraisers will be held in the celebrity playground of West Hollywood. Traffic will end up being affected across the westside as a result.
The first event is at the House of Blues along Sunset Blvd slated to start at 4:30pm. Then he will head to Fig and Olive along the equally busy La Cienega Blvd just north of Melrose Blvd.
If past experience is any indication, he’ll probably arrive at LAX right at the beginning of the afternoon commute around 3-3:30pm. From there he’ll be helicoptered to the VA and then driven to West Hollywood.
Major east-west streets like Sunset, Santa Monica, Olympic, Wilshire and Pico are all likely candidates for closures. This last time LAPD was much better about reopening the streets right after the presidental motorcade passed.
Again, based on past experience, the best way to travel if you absolutely HAVE to is to use east-west streets as far south as possible. In this case, Wilshire, Olympic and Pico are your best bets.
Here is a map of where the biggest Obama traffic impacts are expected:
West Hollywood will pretty much be locked down. However, if you are in Century City, Culver City or West LA, make sure to leave before 2pm. Otherwise, stay in until the motorcade arrives in West Hollywood. Last visit we advised people to escape while Obama was busy at his functions.
Obama Street Closures in West Hollywood
- Sunset Blvd from Doheny to Sweetzer
- Santa Monica Blvd from Dohney to La Cienega
- Olive Dr from Sunset Blvd to Santa Monica Blvd
- Holloway Dr from Sunset to La Cienega
- La Cienega Blvd from Sunset to Rosewood
- Fountain Ave from La Cienega to Sweetzer
- Delongpre Ave from Fountain to Flores
San Vicente between Santa Monica and Melrose will be closed 6am Monday to Noon Tuesday!
Here is a map of the Obama Street Closures in West Hollywood:
West Hollywood will also be closing parks and facilities on Monday
City Hall – open from 8am until noon
Plummer Park – Park office closes at noon, Farmers Market closes at 1pm.
West Hollywood Park – Park office closed all day. No services or activities will go on at the park. The pool will be open from 6am to 9am.
Make sure to bookmark this page, as we will update with more detailed information as the event draws closer.
OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST:
- West Hollywood Halloween Carnival Street Closures and Map: Santa Monica, La Cienega, Robertson, San Vicente Closed
- 2011 LA Marathon Street Closures through LA, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica
- LA Pride Street Closures, Parking Information and Bus Detours in West Hollywood for 2011
- Obama Traffic Better This Time Around, Helicopter Use Prevented Street Closures
- Street Closures for Hollywood Christmas Parade: Sunset, Highland, La Brea, Hollywood, Vine Affected
What a joke. The country is falling apart at the seems and he spends taxpayer dollars (and causes major traffic delays) to raise more money for his ‘Hope’ less re-election. Nice priorities.
spellcheck: *seams*
Lucky for you he’s an advocate for education reform. Now you can go back to school and learn how to spell.
Rome is burning and this clown is looking for handouts. Typical wealth redistributor. Obama wouldn’t know what an economy was if it hit him in the backside. Oh, and he loves him some wars – just like Bush. Nothing new to see here.
The Pacific Design Center sent out the following to it’s tenants last week,
“President Obama is set to visit the West Hollywood Area on Monday, September 26, 2011. Expect street closures and major traffic delays from 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm. As a result, San Vicente Boulevard from Melrose Avenue to Santa Monica Boulevard will be closed all day on Monday.”
Thought someone might find the info helpful.
thanks so much Rachael!!
Once again this arrogant sonofabitch demonstrates how out of touch he is. No matter than tens of thousands of working people will lose time and money as long as he gets to suck the money out of his fawning toadies in Hollywood. Why don’t they just go to Washington and give him the money.Seriously, if he invited them all to the White House for a party and took their money there it would be less costly to us taxpayers. What an arrogant out of touch sonofabitch. No other president has repeatedly come to our town and closed down the streets like this one has.
Because no other President has used taxpayer money to travel during a re-election campaign. Oh, wait, EVERY SINGLE PRESIDENT EVER has done that. But cheers to dumbasses for venting their political views on a website about TRAFFIC.
I generally support Obama — CERTAINLY more than the Republican greedy-ass monsters running against him. But does he REALIZE, for us residents and business owners of the City of West Hollywood, how MUCH disruption this is?? What about all the working stiffs who don’t have the $17,900 it costs to have dinner with him at Fig & Olive? What about the ones who need to WORK on Monday to make ends meet? Who cares as long as the rich — even rich Democrats — get their fancy dinner. What about the small business owners AND their employees on Monday??
One other thought – we think the reason they are closing San Vicente is that he’ll use the helipad at the Sherrifs station next to the PDC, which would be a good thing for traffic along his normal route from LAX.
Last spring I was trapped in Obama traffic on Wilshire near Sepulveda – took 2 hours to drive 5 miles! The trip before that my sister was stuck in Century City for 3 hours unable to go home from work. I guess us little people don’t matter when he has fundraising to do
Great – I am in sales – I have to leave work 5 hrs early to pick my son up at school because they are dismissing early due to Obama going to the House of Blues -Lovely….
Wow – I’m amazed at all of the stupid comments on here…
who’s playing at House Of Blues? must be a pretty good band..
Guys, this is nothing new. I lived here long enough to have to endure street closures for Bush, Clinton, and Reagan….be informed, know the routes and plan accordingly!
And thank you total traffic la for giving the most comprehensive info and visuals available on this!
Dear Republican DoucheWipes,
ANY President coming to town will cause freeway closures, traffic, and commuting problems for the general public, not just Obama.
ANY President or candidate running for high office will also raise money, especially during an election cycle, not just Obama.
If you’re really going to use TRAFFIC as an excuse to showcase your ignorance with politics, save it for your family dinners. It’s not necessary here.
Really.
Sincerely,
Someone Smarter Than You
Olympic and La Brea are still moving well, I get the feeling people are terrified to even get near this area.
Oh yeah, I forgot… EVERY president shuts down entire cities at rush hour when they drop in for fundraisers. Seriously??? You miserable Obamapologists. (Like that? I coined it just now.)
Last time Bush flew in for a fundraiser, he landed at the Santa Monica Airport… had his fundraiser in a hangar… and flew back out. Except for the twenty or so protesters standing outside the airport (where Bush had no chance to see them anyway), you’d never have even known he was there. Absolutely ZERO disruption to the roads and public.
Obama, on the other hand, is very big on parading into town like a king–at rush hour, no less–and forcing all of his subjects to sit in traffic for three hours like obedient lapdogs, going nowhere and burning gas we can’t afford in the first place, telling us all that getting home to see our spouses and children is a lesser priority than his fundraising to get re-elected so he can continue his wholesale destruction of our once-great country for yet another four unbearable years.
We won’t be able to fire this fool from the White House soon enough. He is singularly the worst thing this country has ever done to itself.
Anyone know how you can get home if you live in West Hollywood?
omfg. Be informed. Try *thinking* (I know this is hard for you right wingers). We were all alerted about this, and you could have taken steps to avoid any mishaps (which seemed to be minimal, btw). This is a fact of life when the POTUS decides to visit a city for whatever reason. Oh, and, Pat… the reason Bush didn’t come to California much nor go beyond Santa Monica is because: NO ONE HERE EXCEPT YOU AND HANDFUL OF OTHER SELFISH JERKS IN LA SUPPORTED HIM.
This is a TRAFFIC INFORMATION SITE. If you don’t have anything to add about traffic, why don’t you just stfu and move to one of those red states. You’ll be happier, and no one here will miss you.
It’s always refreshing to see how tolerant the left is of any views other than their own. Ironic. Used to be the liberals would march in the streets for free speech. Now….they’ll verbally lynch anyone who doesn’t adhere to their party line.