Springfield's Green Zone

Lots of road closures in downtown Springfield this weekend right through the dedication of the ALPLM on Tuesday. Much of the central part of the city will be sealed off from anyone without the proper credentials on dedication day.

This part bothers me a little though:

Horace Mann Educators Corp. is giving nearly 1,200 workers an unexpected
vacation day Tuesday rather than make them fight the traffic and maze of closed
streets expected with the opening ceremony for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Museum.

St. John's Hospital - just two blocks north of the insurance company -
doesn't have the same luxury.

"The nature of what we do, we have to be open. It's not a choice,"
hospital spokesman Brian Reardon said. "We do, obviously, have some parking and
traffic issues."

The medical complex - which stretches between Sixth and Ninth streets
and Carpenter and Madison streets - falls within the downtown street network
marked to be closed for the museum's opening celebration. That includes
facilities where 1,500 hospital employees usually put their cars. The complex's
only unaffected parking ramp is on Ninth Street, and that will be reserved for
patients and hospital visitors.

Employees have been directed to park at the Illinois State Fairgrounds
and take shuttle buses being provided to take museum visitors downtown.
(Hospital identification cards will be required.)

All vehicular traffic to the hospital complex, including ambulance
service, will be funneled through the Ninth and Carpenter entrance. Pedestrians
will go through the hospital's main lobby from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday. Escort
service will be provided for patients from that point to the complex's farthest
reaches, such as the Prairie Heart Institute.

Things will get even more complicated if President Bush attends.

"We can't use air-evac, assuming the president is in town, for security
reasons," Reardon said. "The helicopters will be redirected to (Abraham Lincoln)
Capital Airport, and an ambulance will drive patients either here or to Memorial
(Medical Center.)"

I ask again, is it time to limit presidential visits?