Obama + SXSW = gridlock in capital

AUSTIN — President Barack Obama is making his seventh visit to Texas’ capital city Friday and city leaders have asked residents, essentially, to shelter in place.

On a day when as many as 250,000 visitors are expected to pack downtown for the South by Southwest Festival, forcing the closure of numerous streets, Obama’s 2:30 p.m. appearance at the Long Center for the Performing Arts will only add to the traffic gridlock. In addition to his travel to and from the airport, the president will attend a pair of Democratic fundraisers at the downtown Austin Music Hall and in the tony Tarrytown neighborhood about two miles to the west.

“Friday will add a population the size of Amarillo to Austin” for SXSW, said Jason Stanford, communications director for Austin Mayor Steve Adler. “In addition to the streets already shut down for SXSW, there will be rolling closures as the president moves from one place to another. This

would be a good day for people to work from home.”

To underscore that message, most state and local government employees are being dismissed at noon Friday. Seventeen school campuses — most in central, south and west Austin where roads are expected to be clogged — will close at noon and students sent home.

Dozens of downtown businesses, from law offices to consulting firms to veterinarians, are closing for most or all of the day.

City officials are advising drivers to stay away from the downtown area from noon to 8 p.m., during the president’s sevenhour visit.

Adding to the predicted gridlock, dozens of demonstrators are expected to picket Obama’s visit on issues ranging from immigration to abortion to gun rights, including supporters of the opencarry of firearms who pledged Thursday to show up carrying rifles.

Authorities confirmed they were stepping up security, noting that all locations where Obama will be present are gun-free zones.

“I’m going to open-carry my rifle and hand out literature at SXSW Friday,” CJ Grisham, leader of the pro-gun group Open Carry Texas, posted on his Facebook page. “I just found out Obama is going to SXSW. This may get interesting.”

Austinites bracing

Aside from the protests, most Austinites on Thursday were focused on the gridlock.

“It sounds like Carmegeddon, so we’re going to all work from home tomorrow. It’ll just be easier,” said Julia Hockley, who works for a 30-employee consulting firm with offices on West Sixth Street, just west of the downtown core. “With the schools closing early, I’ll have to do pickup earlier, so I guess I’m not going to be able to avoid the traffic mess altogether.”

Some downtown merchants Thursday were predicting a daylong traffic snarl could boost business.

“If people can’t move in traffic, then they’ll be walking and that means more sales, brother,” said Bo Carroll, a hot dog and soda vendor on East Sixth Street, the city’s famed restaurant and club zone that was hopping Thursday with early arrivals for SXSW. “More for me, more people stopping in for a drink and some music, more for Austin. The more people, the merrier.”

Obama’s visit, his first to the 30th annual, world-renowned film, interactive and music festival, will start about 1 p.m. when Air Force One lands at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, an event that is expected to close the airport to landings and takeoffs for half an hour and snarl expressways as his motorcade heads downtown.

There, the president’s first stop will be the Long Center where he will do a 2:30 p.m., question-andanswer opening session on civic engagement with Texas Tribune CEO and Editor In Chief Evan Smith.

Then, Obama will head a halfmile away to the Austin Music Hall for an invitation-only Democratic Party fundraiser at 3:30 p.m.

At 6 p.m., the president is to attend a private dinner-fundraiser at the West Austin home of real estate entrepreneur Kirk Rudy, and is slated to depart about an hour later for the airport for an expected wheels-up at 8 p.m., which will halt arriving and departing flights once again.

As Obama moves from one place to another Friday, Stanford said the city will tweet out reminders about motorcade-related street closures.

“If we can just get one in five drivers to choose to stay home on Friday, the traffic will be about normal for the first day of South by Southwest, which will still be very heavy downtown, but bearable,” Stanford said. “But if you have to drive and you have to come downtown, then good luck. You probably won’t be moving a lot at various times.”

First lady at SXSW later

After Obama leaves Friday night, officials said they are preparing for a redux of sorts three days later when first lady Michelle Obama comes to Austin to speak at SXSW on education.

White House officials said Thursday that the president is not expected to address the current legal fight between Apple and the Department of Justice over the tech giant’s iPhone encryption technology.

Jason Goldman, the White House’s chief digital officer, said in a conference call with reporters that there are larger, more complex issues in the tech landscape than the Apple lawsuit.

“The cooperation that exists between tech and the government extends beyond discussions about encryption,” he said. “When you think about how the government and tech need to interact, it’s more than a single case.”

The president also is not expected to address a topic that has come up at SXSW in past years: net neutrality, the belief that Internet users should have equal access to all content without service providers favoring or blocking particular products or websites.

“The president has reiterated his support for net neutrality,” said Kristie Canegallo, the White House deputy chief of staff. “There is no change on his position.”