Hopefully you’ve been having a productive morning at work, because it’s already time to start planning your commute home—and while we might be peeking at the clock on any given Wednesday, we actually mean it today, because it's going to be jammed.
ESPN's ESPY Awards are taking place at rush hour tonight down at L.A. Live and, in addition to the limo-looniness that accompanies most awards shows, this year the ESPYS are hosting a special guest: Vice President Joe Biden. If you recall the traffic associated with recent visits from our head of state—fondly referred to around these parts as “Obamajam”—then you know the impact a single high-security motorcade can have on traffic.
Hollywood Patch has up a listing of what police are saying to expect tonight. As for outright closures, expect Fourth Street to be closed going east between Figueroa and Flower streets from 4:30 to 6:30pm. When it comes to general traffic along the motorcade’s route, LAPD recommends avoiding anywhere around L.A. Live from 4 to 7:30pm, Pico Boulevard between Hope Street and the 110 Harbor Freeway from 6:00 to 7:30pm, Imperial Highway between Sepulveda and Vista Del Mar from 4:00 to 5:30pm and again from 7:30pm to 9:30pm, and other hot-spots.
Once you’ve plotted out your surface-street alternatives or convinced your boss to let you out the door early, it’s time to start thinking about what we’re going to call this particular traffic phenomenon. If a presidential visit is an Obamajam, does the vice president bring a Bidenblock?
Tell us what you’ll be hashtagging tonight’s traffic in the comments section below.