Torrential rain and flash flooding weren’t the only things wreaking havoc on roadways in the Austin area. Drivers experienced stand-still traffic near Interstate 35 in Austin, which many believe have to do with Vance’s arrival on Tuesday, July 14. Is Vice President JD Vance in Austin today?
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a temporary flight restriction (TFR) in Austin on July 14, which happens whenever the president or vice president travel within the United States. According to a Vice Presidential TFR impact statement, the airport directly impacted by this TFR is Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS).
An AUS spokesperson confirmed to MySA that a ramp freeze was issued at AUS around 8:10 Tuesday morning and cleared at around 8:35 a.m. While it’s unclear if and why Vance could be in Austin, several residents took to social media to report traffic delays from a possible presidential motorcade traveling through the Capital City.
Reddit User Internal-Revenue2973 posted a photo of their POV in the r/Austin group with the caption, “Traffic at dead stop – Frontage Road of Ben White at the intersection of Woodward.” Another Redditor, SirLaurenceOlivier, said they spotted a motorcade on East Ben White Road writing, “This is just east of I 35. They have blocked traffic for at least five minutes maybe 10 minutes and it’s a constant motor cave mostly of motorcycles, but also it looks like there’s some special purpose vehicles, and ambulances.”
Motorcade on E Ben White by u/SirLaurenceOlivier in Austin
The Redditor also said they saw the motorcade turn left of Woodward and spotted “a helicopter in that area south of 71 east of I-35.” An eagle-eyed Redditor on Monday shared a screenshot of the TFR scheduled for Tuesday over the airport and downtown, and asked the group, “What VIP is coming to Austin?” to which many guessed Vance.
Who’s coming to Austin tomorrow? by u/BaDonkADonk2020 in Austin
MySA reached out to the Austin Police Department for comment on the motorcade, but did not hear back prior to publication…