President Obama is currently in Los Angeles. While it's great to have the President in town, it always causes major havoc in the West L.A./Century City area because the Secret Service likes to use Santa Monica Blvd. as the primary way to get the Presidential Motorcade on and off the 405 Freeway. This necessitates the closing of Santa Monica Blvd., which is a major traffic artery in the West L.A. area. And wouldn't you know that my office is on Santa Monica Blvd., just a block east of the 405.
The morning, the President's helicopter landed in Cheviot Park, which is a few miles from the 405 entrance. Because of this, a good portion of Santa Monica Blvd. was closed which added about an extra hour to my morning commute as I tried to find alternate ways around the closures. Instead of just complaining about it, I emailed The White House and recommended that they use Veteran's Park as a landing site for Marine One. Veteran's Park is a large park in West L.A. which is part of the Veteran's Administration. Since the park is on Federal land, I would assume that it would be much easier to secure than Cheviot Park (which is in a residential area). Also, Veteran's Park is right next to the 405 Freeway, which would mean fewer street closures to get the Motorcade to and from the Freeway.
I'll report back if I get a response to my suggestion.
1 comment:
I don't know the L.A. freeway arteries at all; however, just from a common sense P.O.V. - your suggestion makes a heck of a lot more sense! Especially for those commuters who literally can't afford to be late to work + need every minute of work time to make ends meet.
Post a Comment