A second tunneling machine reached the Wilshire/La Cienega Station on March 26. (photo courtesy of Metro)

Metro announced that a second tunneling machine reached the future Wilshire/La Cienega station on the Purple Line Extension project on March 26.

The machine, named Soyeon, arrived nearly a month after the first tunneling machine, Elsie, reached the Wilshire/La Cienega station on March 1. The machines had been digging twin tunnels between Wilshire/Western and Wilshire/La Cienega since 2018.

Metro announced in March that tunneling for the first four-mile section of the project is now more than two-thirds complete. More than 90% of the tunnels have been excavated and Metro anticipates completing tunnelling on the first section this summer. Excavation for all three subway station boxes – Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega – has also been completed.

The names Elsie and Soyeon were chosen by Fairfax High Student Marianne Gutierrez, who won a naming contest in 2018. The word soyeon means bright and beautiful in Korean and was chosen in honor of Yi Soyeon, a female astronaut and mechanical engineer. Gutierrez chose Elsie in tribute to female engineer Elsie Eavers, the first woman to be elected as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Work at the Wilshire/La Cienega subway station has increased, with ongoing construction of passageways and utility rooms that house systems vital for the subway system. Intermittent and semi-permanent lane reductions and closures will be required in the area. Station construction also continues in the staging yards at Wilshire/La Cienega and Wilshire/Gale.

Crews are also expected to begin new work from April 2-5 to restore bus pads near Wilshire/McCarthy Vista. Eastbound Wilshire Boulevard will be reduced to a single lane between McCarthy Vista and San Diego Way from 6 a.m. on April 2 through 6 a.m. on April 5.

Concrete and material deliveries will also continue this week at and around a construction staging yard for the future subway station near Wilshire/Fairfax. Intermittent lane reductions on Wilshire Boulevard may be necessary and Ogden Drive will be closed intermittently south of Wilshire Boulevard. Orange Grove Avenue will remain closed south of Wilshire Boulevard through December.

Near the Wilshire/La Brea station, Wilshire Boulevard will be reduced to two lanes in each direction between Detroit and June streets through September. Hauling and deliveries to and from both La Brea Avenue yards will continue.

K-rail work zones will also remain on Wilshire Boulevard near Rimpau and Plymouth boulevards. Wilshire Boulevard has been reduced to two lanes in each direction between June Street and Muirfield Road, and Windsor and Plymouth boulevards.

Near Wilshire/Western, Support for underground construction also continues. Intermittent single-lane closures may be necessary on Wilshire Boulevard between Western Avenue and Manhattan Place.

Metro will hold the next meeting on sections one and two of the Purple Line Extension project from Wilshire/Western to Century City on Wednesday, May 5, from noon to 1 p.m., via Zoom. To participate, visit zoom.us and use the webinar ID: 910 4911 3927, or call (888)788 0099.

For questions and concerns, call the 24-hour project hotline at (213)922-6934, email the project team at purplelineext@metro.net, or visit metro.net.