FYI: Congress Ave traffic closures Fri. 2/22 for Obama Rally

[mcnichol]

Hey peeps -- I work down at 9th & Congress and just had this info forwarded to me. This will affect anyone driving/parking who is playing the Hideout tomorrow night (not to mention the audiences). Please pass along to anyone who might not check here:

Obama event to affect Friday downtown traffic

A scheduled rally near the State Capitol featuring presidential candidate Barack Obama will result in various street closures in downtown Austin on Friday, Feb. 22.

Congress Avenue from 11th Street to 10th Street, and 11th Street from Colorado Street to Brazos Street will be closed to traffic beginning at midnight this evening.

Beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, the Congress Avenue closure will be extended to an area from 11th Street to 8th Street. The 11th Street closure will be extended from Brazos to San Jacinto Boulevard.

In addition, the following cross streets will be affected beginning at 6 p.m.:
... Colorado from 11th to 9th Street
... 10th Street from Lavaca Street to Brazos.
... 9th Street from Colorado to Brazos.

Those planning to attend are advised to expect a large number of people in the downtown area in the hours leading up to the 9 p.m. event. Downtown parking will be extremely limited in the immediate vicinity of the rally.

All downtown streets are expected to reopen to traffic by 3 a.m.
Saturday, Feb. 23.

[bradisntclever]

Campus is going to be a zoo, too. They sent out an e-mail to all students and staff members with the various list of street closures. Your best bet is to avoid it entirely unless you're headed to the debate or have to be here.

[Roy Janik]

Damn. I hope it doesn't affect audiences too bad. Curtis Needs a Ride is playing in the Double Barrel, and it always sucks when an out-of-town troupe shows up to find a lackluster audience.

[HerrHerr]

Biker Rally!

[Matt]

May I recommend this as an insanely good opportunity to promote improv in Austin to all those political folks coming to and from the rally?