Tens of thousands of people are expected to flood the streets of downtown Los Angeles Monday to celebrate the Dodgers’ World Series victory, and Mayor Karen Bass is asking Angelenos who work downtown to work remotely to accommodate the massive crowd.
At an early afternoon news conference Sunday to announce the city’s preparedness plans, Bass said more than 200,000 people attended last year’s World Series parade and even more are expected this year.
Authorities are urging attendees to take public transit or park far away from the parade route, where it will be “easy to exit on your way out.”
The parade will begin at 11 a.m. at Temple Street and Broadway, continuing along an approximately 45-minute route west on Temple Street, south on Grand Avenue, west on Seventh Street, and north on Figueroa Street, ending at Fifth Street.
Police said road closures near the route will start between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department later said closures would begin as early as 4 a.m., and encouraged fans to gather along the longest stretch of the parade route on Grand Avenue.
Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol will also be closing several freeway entrances and exits that are near the parade.
Members of the Dodgers will travel atop double-decker buses on the parade route.
A separate, ticketed celebration will be held at Dodger Stadium at approximately 12:15 p.m., with auto gates opening at 8:30 a.m. and stadium gates at 9 a.m.
All Dodger Stadium guidelines and rules will apply to the event. Signs, bags or any other items not permitted for games under team policies will also be prohibited at the celebration.
Due to logistics, traffic and timing, fans will not be able to attend both the parade and the stadium celebration, according to the team.
The parade will be shown on DodgerVision inside the stadium. Food and merchandise will be available for purchase.
Tickets for the stadium celebration were sold out by Sunday night, according to the Dodgers.
The parade and stadium event will be televised in their entirety on CBS 2, NBC 4, KTLA 5, ABC 7, KCAL 9, Fox 11, Spectrum SportsNet LA, be streamed on dodgers.com and broadcast on AM 570.
Meanwhile, transportation officials detailed their plans for street closures and added public transit service. Laura Rubio-Cornejo, CEO of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, said more than 125 extra traffic officers will be deployed.
Street closures would generally occur south from Chinatown and Cesar Chavez Avenue, west of Spring Street, east of the Harbor (110) Freeway and north of Eighth Street, Rubio-Cornejo said.
Off-ramps to Sixth Street will be closed from the northbound and southbound Harbor Freeway, as well as the Fifth Street on-ramps for the northbound and southbound Harbor Freeway.
DASH and Commuter Express service will be impacted, and riders were encouraged to check online for changes.
LA Metro officials said many bus lines in downtown LA will be detoured due to the festivities starting as early as 3:30 a.m. Those planning to take the bus were encouraged to visit Metro’s service alerts website for up-to-date information. Metro will direct many of its bus lines serving downtown to the following four Metro Rail stations, where riders can transfer to trains and continue their trips into downtown:
— Union Station (A, B and D Lines) is the main entry point into DTLA from the north or east.
— Westlake/MacArthur Park (B and D Lines) for those coming into DTLA from the west.
— Little Tokyo/Arts District (A and E Lines) for those coming into DTLA from the east.
— Pico Station (A and E Lines) for those coming into DTLA from the west or south.
For the Dodger Stadium Express shuttle, riders must have a ticket for the Dodger Celebration Event.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said the parade is “an opportunity to show the world the very best of Los Angeles — the unity, pride and respect that defines our city.
“The eyes of the world will be on us, and we intend to ensure that everyone can celebrate safely,” McDonnell said, adding that police would have a large and visible presence along the parade route, at the rally and throughout the surrounding neighborhoods.
McDonnell attributed the violence that broke out after Saturday night’s clinching victory to “a small number of individuals” who turned “could have been a joyous occasion into one marred by some vandalism and destruction of property.”
“That behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” he said.
Seven people were arrested on suspicion of various charges in the overnight celebration, and police used tear gas to break up one crowd in Echo Park.