Rush-hour traffic in downtown Los Angeles is never something to look forward to, but Wednesday evening should be even more of a nightmare as motorists will have to deal with street closures and security around L.A. Live as Vice President Joe Biden arrives for the 2016 ESPY awards.
The awards program, due to start at 5 p.m., honors the world’s best athletes and Biden is slated to speak at the Microsoft Theater event broadcast on national TV.
Officials urged drivers to avoid the area of downtown around 11th Street and Figueroa near L.A. Live and the Convention Center.
Biden will be in San Diego earlier in the day, speaking at the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal to tout the record of President Barack Obama’s administration on trade enforcement.
He is expected to say the administration has brought more trade enforcement cases at the World Trade Organization since 2009 than any other WTO member, and has won all that have been decided, according to Biden’s office. The victories have helped remove trade barriers and increase export opportunities worth billions of dollars to American workers, farmers, and businesses, his office said.
Following his remarks in San Diego, Biden will travel to Los Angeles. During the Espy Awards ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles, Biden will present the Jimmy V Perseverance Award to Turner Sports broadcaster Craig Sager.
Sager, known for the gaudy suits he wears while working the sidelines of NBA games, is being honored for his continued work while battling leukemia.
After presenting the award, Biden is expected to leave Los Angeles, bound for Honolulu, Hawaii, for a trilateral meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama and Republic of Korea First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam.
—City News Service