The Labor and Immigration March and Rally will take place on Thursday, May 1, 2008.  Traffic impacts in Downtown Los Angeles may be felt on any street within the area bounded by Cesar Chavez Avenue to the north, Alameda Street to the east, Pico Boulevard to the south and Hoover Street to the west beginning at 11:00 am in the morning and lasting throughout the day.

There will be four marches taking place with three separate starting points, routes and times with a common rally point.  The four marches will come together at Broadway and 5th Street and continue north to the rally area on Broadway between 1st and Temple.  The first march "May 1st Day of Action in Support of Workers Rights" will assemble at 11am at Park View Street (MacArthur Park) and is scheduled to begin at 2pm with an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 participants.  The first march will travel east along 7th to Figueroa Street where it will make a left turn onto Figueroa, travel north on Figueroa to 5th Street, make a right turn on 5th, continue east to Broadway and make a left turn onto northbound Broadway where the other two marches will join it.  The second march "Immigrant Rights" and third march "Full Rights for Immigrants" will assemble at 11 am and are scheduled to begin at 3pm at Olympic and Broadway with combined estimated of 100,000 participants and travel northbound on Broadway to the rally point between 1st and Temple.  The fourth march, "Legalize L.A.," will assemble at 12:30 pm on 7th Street between Alameda Street and Central Avenue.  This march is scheduled to start at 1:30 pm, traveling north on Central Avenue to 5th street, turning left onto eastbound 5th Street to Broadway where it will join the other three marches and continue north on Broadway to the common rally point on Broadway between 1st and Temple (see "Legalize L.A." map below).  The rally is expected to last several hours with an estimated end time of 8 pm.  Due to all four marches occurring almost simultaneously, Downtown Los Angeles traffic will be severely impacted during the pm peak hours within the quadrants of Broadway from Pico Boulevard to Temple Street and 5th Street between Alameda Street and Figueroa Street.

Assembly area street closures are likely to begin at 10:30 am: Park View Street between 7th Street and Wilshire Boulevard and Broadway between 9th Street and Olympic Boulevard; Olympic Boulevard between Main Street and Hill Street.  At approximately 1:30pm, LADOT engineers will gradually begin securing the march route.

Well before the march starts, roadways surrounding the assembly and demonstration areas must be secured and all vehicles parked on the route in violation of the temporary parking prohibitions, must be towed for public safety.  Parking will also be prohibited on detour routes to reduce congestion.  LADOT will aggressively enforce all temporary parking signs.  It costs $70 for the citation and $150 to $185 to recover a towed vehicle.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Special Traffic Operations Division has developed plans which will provide appropriate response to various situations if they occur.  Any streets within the specified boundaries may be closed as warranted by the size of the protest.  Since detour routes may be complex and congestion may be severe, motorists are encouraged to avoid this entire area if possible.  LADOT staffing for this event is expected to include approximately 40 engineers and over 100 Traffic Officers and Field Operations personnel to manage the traffic.  LAPD will also provide Police Officers to ensure public safety.

Many roadways in Downtown Los Angeles will be impacted for most of the afternoon.  It is impossible to predict either the actual participation level or the locations where participants will choose to join the protest or demonstration.

Please be advised that street closures are dictated by the number of participants.  Whenever the number of participants exceeds the capacity of the sidewalks, the roadways must be closed to ensure pedestrian safety.  This usually occurs well before the scheduled beginning of most demonstration marches because the assembly area is limited in size.

Traffic impacts will be severe in Downtown Los Angeles during the afternoon rush hour.  During previous marches on this route, many participants have chosen to join the route at various points, rather than meet at the assembly area.  While many participants will choose to drive personal vehicles, most are expected to utilize public transportation: Metro Rail Blue and Gold Lines, MTA and other regional buses, etc.  Many will pass through Union Station on their way to the assembly area.

The map provided on the DOT website shows the march routes in olive.  The map also has downtown areas along the route shown in various colors with coordinating bubbles which show areas that are likely to be closed along with possible closure and reopening times.  In the table located to the lower left of the map, there is a specific definition for the information contained in each bubble.  Please note closure and re-opening times are based on estimated event start time and crowd levels.  The Harbor Freeway (I-110) off ramps to 6th Street will be closed at 2:00pm.

The march along with the various street closures will encompass a very large part of the downtown Los Angeles area.  To allow vehicular traffic to exit the impacted areas three streets will remain open until the crowd reaches specific points along the route: Alvarado Street, Figueroa Street and Grand Avenue.  For travel around the impacted areas use Cesar Chavez Av to the north, Pico Bl to the south, Los Angeles St to the east and the Harbor Freeway to the west.

Following the passage of participants, streets will be reopened, and traffic signal timing adjustments will be implemented to flush out the congested streets as quickly as possible.

LADOT is committed to reopening streets along the route as quickly as it is safe to do so.  We regret that we do not have sufficient staff resources available to provide individualized travel and parking information to concerned citizens.  Please advise your friends, relatives and associates to plan for this special event.

May 1st march information on this website is updated as it is received.