SnapGlow.TV: Modern Gems Galore! A visit by President Obama to Center City this afternoon to attend a fund-raiser for U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter promises to add a tangle of street closures, protesters, and gawkers to the usual mayhem of rush hour.
Air Force One is expected to touch down at the Philadelphia International Airport about 3:45 p.m., before Obama, Specter, and their entourages motorcade to the Convention Center for the event.
As many as 1,000 people are expected to attend an invitation-only reception and dinner, which the campaign hopes will raise $2.5 million for Specter and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
The fund-raiser is scheduled to end at 6 p.m., with Air Force One departing the airport about 7 p.m., just before the first pitch of the Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park.
"Rush hour is definitely going to be impacted," said Lt. Frank Vanore, a Philadelphia police spokesman. "We're asking people to use public transportation."
For security reasons, police won't release the president's route from the airport to the Convention Center, but Vanore said to expect "intermittent" street closures downtown.
"Without being too specific, keep that in mind when traveling in Center City," he said.
Typically, police conduct "soft closures" for dignitaries, blocking roads only while the motorcades pass.
The two main routes from the airport - I-95 and I-76 - could be impacted as well, affecting commuters and game traffic.
The president and Specter will fly together from Pittsburgh, where they are scheduled to speak at a rally to members of the AFL-CIO.
The fund-raiser is expected to begin about 3:15 p.m., and organizers have asked those attending to arrive early.
Adding to the scrum, protesters from the Independence Hall Tea Party Association have asked the city for a permit to rally at 12th and Arch Streets during the president's visit.
The group, opposed to Obama's health-care plan and what it says is a "massive expansion of the federal government," sent 14 buses to a weekend protest in Washington.
Don Adams, an organizer, said he hoped to attract at least 100 people to today's protest. The group does not plan to march.
"We don't want to block traffic or anything," he said. "We're just going to stay in that area."
Contact staff writer Troy Graham at 215-854-2730 or tgraham@phillynews.com.
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