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On the second and final day of a visit to the Los Angeles area, President Barack Obama on Friday attended a fundraiser and designated a swath of the San Gabriel Mountains as a national monument before leaving the region for San Francisco.

Ariel Jalali, chief executive of Sensay, far right, offers President Obama a job during a Q&A session at Cross Campus in Santa Monica. (Credit: Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
Ariel Jalali, chief executive of Sensay, far right, offers President Obama a job during a Q&A session at Cross Campus in Santa Monica. (Credit: Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

The benefit for the Democratic National Committee was held at the home of restaurateur Michael Chow.

Afterward, the president signed a proclamation at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, making the national monument designation official.

The executive order sets aside 540 square miles  — stretching from Telegraph Peak, north of Rancho Cucamonga, to rugged areas of the Angeles National Forest near Santa Clarita — for preservation.

Obama then boarded Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport about 2:40 p.m. and departed to San Francisco.

L.A. commuters were advised to plan ahead for delays in areas that would be traversed by the presidential motorcade.

Most of Friday’s announced road closures affected the Westside. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, drivers should avoid the following areas:

  • The area around Wilshire Boulevard between Veteran Avenue and Comstock Avenue from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
  • The area around Beverly Glen Boulevard between Ashton Avenue and Bellagio Road from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
  • The area around Sunset Boulevard between Hilgard Avenue and Carolwood Drive from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • The area around Beverly Glen Boulevard between Bellagio Road and Pico Boulevard from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • The area around Pico Boulevard between Prosser Avenue and Century Park East from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

A hard closure on Hilgard Avenue, between Le Conte and Weyburn avenues, began Thursday and was set to last until 6 p.m. Friday. Metro bus line 302/02 was canceled on that section of Hilgard until 4 p.m. Friday, the LAPD said.

 KTLA’s Melissa Pamer contributed to this report.