Obama Visit Will Snarl Downtown Traffic
Plan ahead if you're driving downtown tomorrow evening. Photo by Caleb Miller/KUT NewsAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
President Obama is coming to Austin tomorrow for a pair of fundraisers. But even if you’re not attending, the president’s visit may affect your evening commute.
Air Force One is scheduled to touch down at Austin Bergstrom International Airport around 4:30 tomorrow afternoon. The president will head to the Austin Music Hall for a speech that starts just before 6 p.m. Tickets start at $250.
That much we do know. What we don’t know is which route his motorcade will travel and how badly it might affect traffic. Those details are being kept secret for security reasons.
Capital Metro spokeswoman Francine Pares says nine bus routes will be detoured around a closed-off section of downtown.
“The perimeters will be Fifth, Congress, Lamar and Riverside, and that forms kind of a rectangle,” Pares said. “So everything will be detoured, or at least our buses will be detoured around that area.”
After Obama’s fundraiser at the Austin Music Hall, he is scheduled to go to the Four Seasons Residences for a fundraiser at the home of former Dell executive Tom Meredith. Tickets for that event cost $25,000 per couple. Then the president heads back to the airport for the departure of Air Force One at 9 p.m.
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