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Change of plans? See below.
President Obama is scheduled to land at LAX about 4 p.m. After that traffic could suck for awhile in the corridor from Brentwood to Beverly Hills, but there's no way to know for sure where or when the streets will close. It's a weekday afternoon rush hour, though, on a rainy day, with classes in session at UCLA, and 1,000 people expected at a high-security fundraiser featuring the Foo Fighters. So I'm going to assume some major disruption.
This much is known. Obama is due to arrive about 6:10 p.m. at a Democratic fundraiser at the Holmby Hills home of Bradley Bell, executive producer of "The Bold and the Beautiful," and his wife Colleen. That's a two-hour window between landing and meeting the people, so I'd guess Obama will visit his hotel first to freshen up. He's done that before on these fundraising visits. If he helicopters from LAX to the Brentwood landing zone west of the VA property as in the past, and if he's staying again at the Beverly Wilshire, there's a good bet the motorcade will tie up Brentwood traffic before 5 p.m. then scoot through rolling closures along Wilshire Boulevard to reach the hotel in Beverly Hills. Then, at whatever hour he leaves the hotel for Holmby Hills, I'd expect Wilshire to be socked again and possibly Sunset Boulevard, depending on where in Holmby the Bells live.
If the president goes straight to the Bells, well, adjust accordingly as to time and route — possibly impacting Sunset over Wilshire. In any case, Sunset, Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevard — and all the perpindicular streets such as Sepulveda and Beverly Glen — will feel the pain. And that's if Obama does not call an audible like last time he was here, when the whole motorcade stopped at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles and extended the Obamajam in geography and time by, I don't know, an order of magnitude or so.
Actor Will Ferrell and his wife, Vivica Paulin Ferrell, are cohosts of the event. The Foo Fighters, as I mentioned, are the entertainment. As for the political money side, Obama "has a long way to go to match the amount of cash he collected from the entertainment industry in 2008," says Tina Daunt in a Hollywood Reporter analysis. Members of the Occupy movement say they will protest at Will Rogers Memorial Park in Beverly Hills.
Then tonight, after the fundraiser, he has to get back to the hotel. That usually entails a closure of Wilshire and related streets. It will be after the evening rush, but there's no way to plan for timing. If you don't want to get caught in traffic, stay away.
Tomorrow morning, Obama is due to attend a fundraiser in Corona Del Mar in Orange County. No idea how he is getting there, but let's assume it will be by air. So he has to get back in the air, either via the Brentwood landing zone, LAX or another spot.
* New landing zone?: NBC LA says the LAPD is recommending that drivers avoid Pico Boulevard and Avenues of the Stars between 4 and 6 p.m., with no mention of the Brentwood area — so maybe the president will be flown to the Century City area, possibly to Cheviot Hills Recreation Center. LAPD guidance of areas to avoid:
Pico Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wilshire Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunset and Beverly Glen boulevards, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Further update: Yeah, Obama coptering to Cheviot Hills looks more likely. Reports that the park on Motor Avenue has been closed and that egress from the Fox Studios lot is restricted.