As if a rainy rush-hour Friday weren’t enough to clog the streets around Hollywood & Highland, Hollywood Boulevard was closed in both directions from Highland to Orange for more than two hours tonight as authorities investigated a suspicious package in the subway below the complex. The LA County Sheriff’s bomb squad has given the all-clear after looking at a backpack that was left on the electrified third rail in the Red Line station right beneath the complex.
Authorities were called to the area at 4:30 PM. The TCL Chinese Theatre at Hollywood & Highland had been evacuated, along with Disney’s El Capitan Theatre across the street from the tourist-heavy area. No immediate word on when either will reopen. The subway station was been cleared, and Red Line train traffic was halted from Universal City to the Wilshire and Western station. Southbound Highland Avenue was closed at Fountain. The all-clear was issued about 6:45 PM.
Hollywood & Highland, of course, houses the Dolby Theatre, which the Academy Awards will be handed out in two weeks.
