After getting a picture of what the seven-week full closure would look like for Wilshire Boulevard this spring, community members and neighborhood councils favor the 16-weekend closure option to accommodate the Purple Line decking work.
Piling construction work for the Purple Line Extension continues on Wilshire Boulevard, restricting the corridor to two lanes each way. (photo by Gregory Cornfield)
Councilman David Ryu, 4th district, will recommend Metro send the 16-weekend traffic plans for approval after a months-long campaign to inform communities along Wilshire Boulevard. Metro has not finalized its recommendation, but is expected to announce it soon. Approval from the Board of Public Works is expected in the next few months and closures will start in April.
Ryu’s office and Metro representatives said they heard from hundreds of community members and business owners who opposed the traffic mitigation plans for the seven-week closure.
“When I started in my office last July, I made a mandate to restore trust in local government and to restore an active dialogue with the community, and this project is a great way to test those principles,” Ryu said.
He said city departments and Metro shared as much information as possible so “all of us together” could make an informed decision.
The first section of the Purple Line Extension will be four miles long and will include stations along Wilshire Boulevard at La Brea and Fairfax Avenues and La Cienega Boulevard. The 16 weekend closures are just to construct the decking part of the extension around the La Brea Avenue station. Purple Line extension construction will continue until 2023 and line is expected to be operational in 2024. By 2035, the Purple Line will connect as far west as the VA Hospital in Westwood.
Metro hosted a community meeting last week at Los Angeles High School to explain how the construction will play out for the La Brea station.
Decking work to create openings to deliver materials for underground construction will start on Wilshire Boulevard between Orange Drive and La Brea Avenue, requiring the 16 weekend closures. Wilshire Boulevard from Detroit Street to La Brea Avenue, and the intersection of Wilshire and La Brea, will also be closed for three weekends each. Construction work will start at 9 p.m. each Friday and continue until 6 a.m. on Monday.
Traffic control measures include concrete barriers, street restriping, temporary signals and traffic officers at high-volume locations. Detours will be clearly marked and announced in advance of closures.
Metro also created a five-step noise plan. Contractors and crews will be told not to yell, that idling equipment is not allowed, to avoid staging in front of residences, to place materials instead of dropping them, and to use quiet equipment when possible. Saw cutting, jackhammering and pile drilling will be done before 11 p.m. each day. Moveable noise barriers and noise control signage will be used. Consultants and supervisors will be present during construction, and monthly compliance reports will ensure the noise remains within city standards.
There will also be a 24-hour hotline, email address and social media outlets to report complaints about noise, vibration, dust or debris. Artwork will also be added to the 20-foot sound walls at the La Brea Avenue staging yard. Construction will be done there from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wilshire Boulevard is already down to two lanes in each direction because of piling work that will continue until spring. Sycamore Avenue will be closed for three weeks, and Orange Drive will be closed for two weeks, but not at the same time.
Tar sump installation started Wednesday on the southeast corner of Detroit Street and will continue through Feb. 12. Work will start at 7 a.m. each day and continue until 5 p.m. Work consists of placing concrete barriers on the street, saw cutting, excavation, backfilling and street restoration. The operation requires sidewalk closures on the southeast side of Wilshire Boulevard to the end of Metro’s staging yard at La Brea Avenue. The parking lane on the southeast side of Detroit Street will be closed until Feb. 12. Businesses will remain open.
Station excavation and shoring will start this summer and continue until summer 2017. Station construction will start in 2017 and tunneling will start in 2018.
Piling for the Fairfax Avenue station at the intersection near Fairfax and Wilshire will begin in the fall, and the decking process for that station will begin in early 2017. Demolition to make room for the staging yard started Tuesday at Ogden Drive and Wilshire Boulevard, and it is expected to be complete in March. Demolition of buildings on Gale Drive and Wilshire Boulevard will begin in spring for the La Cienega Boulevard station.
The next community construction meeting will be March 17 at 6:30 p.m. A location will be announced at a later date.
1 Comment
We do realize that we are spending billions of dollars to construct subways which have experienced a steady decline in ridership for many years while ignoring more viable modes of transportation, e.g. the bus.
The reason we construct subways, and taking money away from the far more efficient and effective buses, is that the billionaires who own city hall and the county politicians make billions of dollars constructing horrendously expensive projects. Then the propose to pay for the cost of maintaining subways and light rail by massive increases in dense housing near the subways.
But even people who live near the subway use their cars and not the subway. Thus, the result is that we squander billions of tax dollars to make billionaire construction companies enormously wealthy while the city cannot afford basic services like paramedics.