By Meghan Louttit
Originally published at 1:22 p.m., October 21, 2008
Updated at 6:18 p.m., October 22, 2008
As predicted, more than an hour before Barack Obama was scheuled to speak, traffic was backed up as crowds make their way to Leesburg's Ida Lee Park to see the Democratic presidential candidate speak.
Around 4 p.m. traffic on the Greenway was backed up to Exit 3 going west. The gates for Wednesday's rally opened around 3 p.m., and Obama began speaking shortly after 5:30 p.m.
"So far everything's been gridlocked," said Leesburg police officer Michael Kibble Wednesday afternoon. "Every road coming into town is clustered."
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Shortly before 3 p.m. traffic began backing up heading west on Route 7 and north on U.S. 15 as motorists traveled to the rally. The Leesburg Police Department recommended that commuters through the area use alternative routes until 9 p.m. to help ease traffic.
Town officials predicted that the event would draw a crowd of 10,000 or more and the lines showed it. Around 4 p.m. Living in LoCo's Erica Garman reported that attendees were waiting at least 45 minutes to go through security for the rally. Other reports say that some waited over two hours.
Ide Lee Park Recreation Center remained open during the event for normal activities. However, all classes scheduled after 2 p.m. were canceled.
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