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Westside traffic. LA Observed file photo.
President Obama is coming to Los Angeles Thursday evening for a fundraiser in Bel Air, overnight in Westwood and a Friday morning funder in Brentwood. The president's arrival on Thursday has good and bad elements for drivers. On the good side, he's arriving later than usual — after 7 p.m. per the White House press advisory. The official press notes also say the fundraiser will be at a private residence in Santa Monica, but the LAPD's guidance on street closures suggests pretty strongly the venue is actually Bel Air. And that's the bad news, because even late in the evening, after rush hour, closing Sunset Boulevard through Holmby Hills and past UCLA and the Bel Air gates is never pretty traffic-wise.
Earlier reports by Ted Johnson in Variety and Tina Daunt in The Hill say the Democratic fundraiser Thursday night is at the Bel Air home of Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn and his wife, environmental activist Cindy Horn. The event has some serious Hollywood names on board as co-hosts, among them Norman Lear, Barbra Streisand and J.J. Abrams. Rep. Nancy Pelosi is expected to attend, as it's a fundraiser for Democratic congressional candidates.
The LAPD guidance strongly suggests that Obama will be staying overnight back at the W hotel in Westwood — his recent favorite local resting spot, apparently — and then heading out Friday morning for a breakfast funder at the Brentwood home of actor Tobey Maguire and his wife Jennifer. The president leaves town for San Francisco around noon.
Also on Friday, Republican candidate Donald Trump has called a noon press conference at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes. [* Update: He cancelled. Campaigning in New york instead.]
There haven't been any especially egregious Obamajams for awhile now, but here's the advice from the LAPD:
-- South Centinela Avenue between Ocean Park and Pico boulevards, from 7:15 to 8:15 p.m. (the area around Santa Monica Airport);
-- Sunset Boulevard between Sepulveda and Beverly Glen boulevards, from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m.;
-- St. Pierre Road and St. Cloud Road between Bel Air Road and Beverly Glen Boulevard, from 7:30 to 9:45 p.m.;
-- Sunset between Beverly Glen and Royce Drive, from 9 to 10:30 p.m.;
-- Hilgard Avenue between Sunset and Weyburn Avenue, from 9 to 10:30 p.m.; and
-- Tiverton Avenue between Le Conte and Weyburn avenues, from 9 to 10:30 p.m.
On Friday, the LAPD says to avoid these areas:
-- Hilgard Avenue between Weyburn and Sunset, from 9:30 to 11 a.m.;
-- Sunset between Loring Avenue west to Burlingame Avenue, from 9:30 to 11 a.m.;
-- Bristol Avenue between Sunset and Westboro Street, from 9:30 to 11 a.m.;
-- North Cliffwood Avenue between Westboro and Highwood streets, from 10:30 a.m. to noon;
-- Sunset Boulevard between Bristol Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.;
-- Centinela Avenue between Ocean Park and Pico boulevards, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Hilgard Avenue will be closed from 4 p.m. Thursday until 1 p.m. Friday.
Malcolm Avenue will be closed from 7 p.m. Thursday until 1 p.m. Friday.
Cliffwood Avenue will be closed from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday.
