It happens every year (and somehow we get through it): Oracle's OpenWorld conference begins Sunday, which means street closures and traffic snarls in the Moscone Center area and beyond.

According to the SF Business Times, OpenWorld, which runs from Sunday October 25 through Thursday October 29, is SF's biggest conference, with an expected 60,000 attendees coming to (in Oracle's words) get "insight into Oracle's integrated cloud platform, the future of the enterprise, and the new era of secure computing." Hey, whatever floats your boat mega-yacht.

The infamously lady-overlooking event is already closing a number of area streets, with more to come.

Howard Street between 3rd and 4th streets closed yesterday, and will stay that way until 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 31. "Howard Street traffic will be detoured either via 2nd Street to Harrison Street or via New Montgomery Street to Hawthorne Street, then to either Folsom or Harrison streets," the MTA says.

From 11 tonight until 10 a.m., Friday, October 30, Taylor Street between O’Farrell and Ellis streets will also close, with Taylor Street traffic detoured west on Ellis Street, north on Leavenworth Street, east on O’Farrell Street and back to Taylor.

The SFMTA has no illusions of how much this will suck for commuters in the area, saying that "Significant traffic congestion is anticipated in and around Moscone Center between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily for the duration of the closure. Travelers are encouraged to take public transit or use alternate routes. There will be heavy pedestrian traffic in the area."

And just because you ride a bike doesn't mean you're left out of the traffic troubles, as "there is a signed bicycle detour for cyclists traveling westbound on Howard Street to turn north at 2nd Street and use Market Street to continue west. Cyclists who wish to stay on Howard Street will have the option to dismount at 3rd and Howard streets and walk their bicycle through along the sidewalk."

And here are the Muni lines that will also be detoured by the conference:

  • 7 Haight/Noriega
  • 8AX Bayshore A Express
  • 8BX Bayshore B Express
  • 9 San Bruno
  • 10 Townsend
  • 12 Folsom/Pacific
  • 14 Mission
  • 14R Mission Rapid
  • 14X Mission Express
  • 21 Hayes
  • 30 Stockton
  • 38 Geary
  • 38R Geary Rapid
  • 41 Union
  • 45 Union/Stockton
  • 81X Caltrain Express

Good luck, everyone! And godspeed. You're gonna need it.