Work continues at the Wilshire/Rodeo station in Beverly Hills. (photo courtesy of Metro)

Work has restarted at street level and at subway stations on section two of the Purple Line Extension subway project through Beverly Hills, but construction temporarily remains on hold in the tunnels, according to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Metro stopped work on the segment of the subway project between La Cienega Boulevard and Century City on Oct. 21 due to concerns about employee safety issues. Metro worked with the contractor, Tutor Perini/O&G, to improve safety, Metro spokesman Dave Sotero said. Tutor Perini/O&G completed additional safety training for workers and Metro allowed work to resume on Nov. 4 at and around the Century City/ Constellation and Wilshire/Rodeo subway stations. Work will be allowed to resume in the tunnels once Tutor Perini/O&G completes cleaning and Metro verifies the work environment is safe, Sotero said. Construction is expected to fully resume on section two of the project within a week, Sotero added.

Work was stopped after 50 instances of employee injuries or near injuries were reported from July 9, 2021, through Sept. 24. No deaths occurred, but numerous employees sustained lacerations, bruises and injuries.

The work stoppage only applied to section two of the project, and construction continued unabated on the first and third sections. Section one from Wilshire/Western is being built by a different contractor, Skanska-Traylor-Shea, has not experienced similar issues with employee injuries. Section three is also being built by Tutor Perini/O&G but has not experienced injuries similar to those that occured on section two, Sotero said.

While work has resumed at the Wilshire/Rodeo subway station, it will stop again at street level from Thursday, Nov. 24, through Sunday, Jan. 1, under a holiday subway construction moratorium implemented by the city of Beverly Hills. During the moratorium, crews will continue working within the station, and will resume construction in public areas on Jan. 3.

Metro is also continuing work at other locations along the subway project alignment. At the eastern end of the project, construction is occurring in work zones in the middle of Wilshire Boulevard between Crenshaw Boulevard and June Street, and Ridgely Drive and Curson Avenue.

At Wilshire/La Brea, crews are building the entrance to the subway station in a staging area on the northwest corner of the intersection. A work zone has been implemented along the north side of Wilshire Boulevard, which has been reduced to two lanes in each direction between Orange Drive and Detroit Street.

Near Wilshire/Fairfax, construction continues on the subway station and at street level. Crews are removing deck panels from the roadway on weekends, when Wilshire Boulevard will be closed at Fairfax Avenue between 9 p.m. on Friday to 6 a.m. on Monday. Traffic is detoured to Sixth Street and Olympic Boulevard during the closures.

At Wilshire/La Cienega, work is occurring in staging areas and in work zones along the north side of Wilshire Boulevard, which will be reduced to two lanes between San Vicente and La Cienega boulevards, and may intermittently be reduced to one lane in each direction. Left turns from Wilshire Boulevard to southbound Gale Drive and Tower Drive are restricted, and daily restrictions to northbound Gale Drive may also be in place.

Wilshire Boulevard may also be reduced to one lane in each direction between Tower and Stanley drives to accommodate material deliveries to the Wilshire/La Cienega station. The lane reductions are anticipated to be in place intermittently from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekdays, and from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday.

Station backfilling work will also continue through the end of November from midnight-6 a.m. on Wilshire Boulevard near Hamilton Drive, and on North Hamilton Drive. Wilshire Boulevard will be reduced to a single lane in each direction between San Vicente and La Cienega boulevards.

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