Sunday, June 20, 2010

STREET CLOSURES FOR MONDAY'S LAKER PARADE: 2 MILLION SCREAMING ANGELOS WILL PACK DOWNTOWN. YIKES! BE PREPARED. BE SAFE!

2010 LAKER
PARADE MAP

Breaking News:
By Randy Economy
www.Economy4ABC.Blogspot.com
June 20, 2010
10"15 p.m.

LOS ANGELES – Get ready for the PARADE of the YEAR!

More than 2 million screaming Los Angeles Laker fans are estimated to pack Downtown Los Angeles streets on Monday to see the newly crown NBA champs.

The parade and celebration will start at STAPLES Center and traveling south on Figueroa Street to Jefferson Boulevard, just north of the USC campus and Galen Center.

By defeating the Boston Celtics for the 2010 NBA championship, the Lakers not only earned the franchise’s 16th league title but also repeated as champions for the third time in the past decade. The Lakers have won back-to-back titles a total of seven times in franchise history, tying the NBA mark previously held by the Celtics.

Based on attendance for the 2002 NBA championship parade and last season’s festivities, team and City officials anticipate a crowd of between 500,000 and 2 million fans lining the two-mile parade route along South Figueroa Street.

Beginning at approximately 11 a.m. (PDT), Lakers players and their families will board the customized float at STAPLES Center, and begin winding their way down South Figueroa Street toward the USC campus before turning east on Jefferson Boulevard at the Galen Center to complete the parade.

A convoy of double-decker, open-air buses and other attending vehicles will carry Lakers coaches and staff, members of the Buss family ownership group, team officials, and the Laker Girls to the conclusion of the two-mile route.

City officials recommend that, whenever possible, fans take the Metro Rail system to the Pico/Chick Hearn station adjacent to the parade route rather than attempt to drive into the STAPLES Center and Figueroa area. Parking will be available in the downtown lots surrounding STAPLES Center and the Figueroa corridor, yet street closures beginning the night before are likely to make morning traffic far more difficult.

As of 10 p.m. Sunday night, thousands of fans are already beginning to camp out along the parade route.  Think of Rose Parade crowd times TWO in a really SMALL COMPACT area.The Lakers also encourage all fans to remember to celebrate safely and responsibly, as the parade will be a family event, and small children will be present. Parents are reminded to keep their children close, as prior championship celebrations have seen some young children become separated from their parents.

Put on the sunscreen, brings lots of water, and remember to keep your cool.

Restaurants within L.A. LIVE will remain open during parade hours, yet access will be restricted to the district's northern entrance off Olympic Boulevard.

Here are the street closures for Monday:
  • Figueroa Street between Olympic Boulevard to the north and Jefferson Boulevard on the south beginning at midnight Sunday.
Other road closures include:
  •  Chick Hearn Court between Figueroa Street and Cherry Street;
  • Cherry Street between Olympic and Pico Boulevards;
  • Flower Street between Washington and Jefferson Boulevards;
  • Jefferson Boulevard between Figueroa and Hoover Streets; and all intersections along the two-mile route as designated by the Los Angeles Police Department and Department of Transportation.
  • LAPD and DOT anticipate reopening major intersections along Figueroa Street as the parade commences, pending pedestrians in those areas having dispersed and other safety conditions being met.

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