VP Harris and motorcade are coming to Durham Friday. What we know so far about traffic
Relatively few people are likely to meet Vice President Kamala Harris in person when she visits Durham on Friday. More are likely to experience the traffic jams created as her motorcade moves through town.
The White House has not publicly announced exactly where Harris will go or when. But early Friday it said she would use Durham’s historic Black Wall Street as a backdrop to announce new money for women- and minority-led venture capital funds that support “historically underserved small businesses and entrepreneurs.”
Durham’s Black Wall Street was centered around Parrish Street downtown. On Thursday, Downtown Durham Inc., the downtown booster group, warned its members to expect some disruptions in the city center Friday.
“The secret service does not provide specific time/location details for security reasons,” Gina Rozier, the communications director, wrote in an email. “But you should expect road closures and traffic delays especially within the loop.”
The White House says Harris is expected to arrive at Raleigh-Durham International Airport at 11:45 a.m. Rather than pass through a terminal, she’ll likely deplane in a remote section of the airfield to her waiting motorcade.
The office of Gov. Roy Cooper, who will join Harris, said late Thursday that they’ll appear together in Durham at 12:20 p.m., though it didn’t say where. It’s not clear how Harris will fill her afternoon; the White House says she’s scheduled to leave RDU at 4:20 p.m. to fly back to Washington.
The State Highway Patrol and local police usually clear the way for visiting vice presidents and their entourage, closing off streets and roads as they move about.
Assuming Harris is headed to downtown Durham, the two likeliest options are Interstate 40 to I-887 and the Durham Freeway or U.S. 70 to I-887 and the Durham Freeway. The motorcade may bring traffic to a standstill, but the delays should be relatively short as it hustles through.
This will be Harris’ 10th trip to North Carolina since taking office, including an earlier visit to Durham in March 2022. The White House says she’ll be touting the administration’s efforts to encourage entrepreneurship and support small businesses.
In addition to Cooper, she’ll be joined by U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. Cooper’s office said he, Adeyemo and officials from the N.C. Rural Center would appear at the Provident1898 co-working space on Chapel Hill Street in Durham at 1 p.m.
The White House is usually tight-lipped about the travel plans of presidents and vice presidents. And even when the planned destination becomes known, there are often unscheduled stops or detours.
When President Joe Biden came to Raleigh in January, the main event was at a community center in North Raleigh. But before he left town, Biden stopped at a Cook Out restaurant on Falls of Neuse Road, where he ordered a bacon cheeseburger, french fries and a milkshake.
This story was originally published February 29, 2024 at 3:44 PM.
