Major Traffic Disruption Likely During Oracle Convention

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KCBS)  -- The city has agreed to close a major downtown thoroughfare around the clock for nine days to accommodate a huge Oracle convention at Moscone Center.

Starting next Thursday, Howard Street between Third Street and Fourth Street will be shut down so the software giant can construct a giant tent between the two convention halls. The temporary structure will remain in place for the duration of the company's OpenWorld convention, expected to draw 40,000 attendees.

KCBS Expanded Coverage: OracleWorld Street Closure

Traffic engineers have predicted gridlock until the street re-opens on October 28, despite major re-routing around a street that normally feeds Interstate 80 in both directions and speeds downtown traffic towards Highway 101.

“There's going to be some significant traffic congestion,” said Maggie Lynch with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. “It's not going to be fun if you're in a car and you're trying to go through there.”

The tented area will become an extension of the two convention halls, which are already joined by an underground concourse. Oracle spokesman Bob Wynne said the additional space would be used “food service and reception, and sort of displays and that kind of thing.”

Mayor Gavin Newsom is defending a decision that he admits could easily backfire.

“It is audacious. At the same time, the number of people that will be coming in to the city is extraordinary, and the economic stimulus is extraordinary. It's one of those proverbial trade-offs,” Newsom told KCBS reporter Doug Sovern.

Of course, money is at the route of the decision. Oracle estimates the attendees will spend some $35 million on hotel rooms, meals, taxi rides, and retail shopping.

Oracle is paying for the police overtime, parking control, lane re-striping, and other expenses related to the street closure, said spokesman Wynne.

The mayor said this convention could easily set a precedent, unless San Franciscans call for a rebellion.

“If it turns out to be a debacle,” Newsom said, “if it turns out that everyone in San Francisco says I'm ready to leave, I quit, I'm getting rid of the mayor the Board of Supervisors, obviously then, we'll consider that.”

In the meantime, the warning’s have been issued, avoid downtown San Francisco unless you happen to work for Oracle and plan to attend their convention.

(jro)