Logistics for Tuesday's Michael Jackson Memorial Service Published, but Uncertain
Eric Richardson
[Flickr]
Chick Hearn Court was closed last week, far in advance of Tuesday's memorial service for Michael Jackson.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Street closures for the Michael Jackson memorial service at Staples Center will begin at midnight tonight, but what exactly will be the case Tuesday morning is still unclear.
Much will depend on how many people ignore the city's requests and make their way to South Park to line up against the barricades that will seal off the L.A. Live area.
While various media outlets have tried to gauge potential turnout via hotel bookings or airline tickets, no one really knows what kind of crowd will form outside the LAPD barricades. Estimates have ranged up to 700,000, though that seems unlikely.
Those that do show up without tickets to get inside will see nothing except LAPD officers. The television broadcast will not be on display outside the arena.
At midnight, the primary street closures around Staples Center will begin. Figueroa, Flower and Cherry streets will be closed between Pico and Olympic. Chick Hearn Court will remain closed.
Pico and Olympic are both shown on DOT's Traffic Management Plan as remaining open, though their fate rests on the turnout of people making their way to the area. Various intersections in the region are shown as conditional or "To Be Determined" closures.
Should DOT's on-site Incident Commander decide to do so, Pico could be closed, along with Figueroa and Flower south to Venice.
A multitude of Metro buses will be diverted around the area. Metro plans to continue Blue Line service through the closure, but that could be disrupted by a large crowd.
Participants in the 10am memorial service include Kobe Bryant, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Magic Johnson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Brooke Shields, Usher and Stevie Wonder. 16,500 free tickets were distributed to the public via a lottery that attracted 1.6 million entries.
loveandhatela on July 06, 2009, at 06:11PM – #1
Ive been thinking about it the last couple days and it does seem unfair that the city, police and AEG are blocking and closing the Nokia Plaza and surrounding streets. Its hypocrisy at its ultimate, because Nokia Plaza was meant for large public gatherings and especially with those large screens.
I guess they are choosing to be selective and are assuming that the "knuckle heads" that started the stuff after the LAkers win, will come back to finish! :)
ritzy periwinkle on July 06, 2009, at 07:40PM – #2
look here http://ladot.lacity.org/pdf/pdf164.pdf for the transportation management plan for tomorrow's memorial
JM on July 06, 2009, at 08:20PM – #3
Thanks, Ritzy. That's helpful.
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on July 06, 2009, at 08:41PM – #4
Ritzy: That's the same PDF that's linked under the See Also: section above, though I guess it could be more obvious.
Dennis Smith on July 06, 2009, at 10:42PM – #5
What is the route to be used for the Parade of the Elephants this year?
Don Garza on July 07, 2009, at 03:54AM – #6
i think lapd is doing a fabulous job.
Dave on July 07, 2009, at 06:21AM – #7
I hope I can to work today! I work at Honda of Downtown LA which is probably in the closure area.