Expect traffic Monday as Obama talks about drugs, incarceration in NJ

President Barack Obama is scheduled to make two stops on his trip to Newark on Monday afternoon, which will cause temporary traffic headaches.

The first stop for the president will be the Integrity House, a state-funded drug and residential treatment center where he will be joined by Sen. Cory Booker,  (D-NJ)  and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D).

"It is a great honor to welcome the president of the United States through the doors of Integrity House," CEO Robert J. Budstock told NJ.com of the visit.

Obama will then head to Rutgers University's Newark campus to lead a roundtable discussion about mass incarceration and the re-entry of people exiting the correctional system into community life and a speech about the topic.

“This is a historic opportunity to focus attention on issues about which we at RU-N—as an anchor institution in Newark—care very deeply and on which many of our faculty, staff, and students collaborate expansively with partners near and far: mass incarceration and re-entry," said RU-N Chancellor Nancy Cantor in a statement.  "These are issues of significant importance not just in Greater Newark and New Jersey, but across metropolitan America and around the world.”

The visit is part of Obama's initiative to break a cycle of incarceration by helping former inmates successfully re-enter society. In his weekly address on Saturday, Obama mentioned today's trip.

"I’ll travel to Newark, N.J. to highlight efforts to help Americans who’ve paid their debt to society reintegrate back into their communities," Obama said.

The visit will also cause traffic issues around Newark Liberty Airport most of the afternoon and into the evening.  Obama is scheduled to land around 1 p.m. and then travel via motorcade to Integrity House and then Rutgers.

He will then travel to New York for a Democratic fundraiser before flying out of Newark in the evening.

Newark police said they "anticipate delays and congestion in the entire downtown area and surrounding streets between the hours of noon and 10 p.m."

"We don't know the exact routes the president will travel but the road closures will come quickly," said New Jersey Traffic's Bob Williams. "Pay attention to the traffic reports and if you can, take mass transit especially after 5 p.m. when he heads into Manhattan and then makes the trip back to Newark."

Rutgers said that Rutgers parking deck No, 1 on Bleeker Street will be closed. Warren Street and Bleeker Street between Dr. Martin Luther King and Washington Street are both closed Monday, as is University Avenue between Raymond Boulevard and Central Avenue and Washington Street between Warren Street and Central Avenue.