At its bi-monthly Community Construction meeting last Thursday, May 19, Metro provided updates on many facets of its current Purple Line Extension subway construction, and particularly the upcoming 22 weekend closures of Wilshire Blvd., necessary to install street-level decking that will allow traffic to use the street while excavation and construction continue below for the next few years.
The meeting, at John Burroughs Middle School and attended by about 50 community stakeholders, opened with a an earnest apology from the STS construction consortium’s Mike Aparicio, who acknowledged that a “breakdown in policy” a week earlier resulted in construction vehicles traveling along residential Detroit Street, which was a violation of established policies. Â Aparacio said, “I humbly apologize to the community,” and promised to “redouble efforts” to keep construction traffic off of Detroit and other residential streets.
“We take this very seriously,” said Aparicio, who promised that Metro would be posting “No Hauling on Local Streets” signs throughout the area, that the policy will be communicated to “all 195 people on site” (who will also have to sign off on receiving the information), and that STS will repeat this communication weekly to employees and contractors for the next month or so, as well as put flags at neighborhood street openings, to remind truck drivers not to enter those zones.
Later, Aparicio and colleague Jill Steiner reviewed the most recent work near the Wilshire-La Brea intersection, which has included installation of piles along the station box site between Detroit and Orange Drive, and jet grouting to harden the soil at several locations. Â The piling work, which began on the north side of Wilshire in November, switched to the south side in April, and has resulted in some occasional directional and lane closures.
Steiner said the coming weekend closures for the decking installation will begin in June (probably the weekend of June 10).  Work will begin around 8 p.m. each Friday for 22 weeks, beginning at Detroit Street for three weeks, and moving east along Wilshire (three more weekends at the La Brea-Wilshire intersection, then 16 more weekends as work moves from La Brea to Orange Dr.), with full closures of Wilshire, from Detroit to Highland, beginning at 9 p.m., and work proceeding around the clock until the street reopens at 6 a.m. on Monday.  (Note that there will be no closures on the Fourth of July or Labor Day weekends.)
Steiner also announced the newly-determined detour routes for buses and traffic during the weekend closures.
For the most part, said Steiner, Route 20 and 720 buses, which normally travel along Wilshire, will be re-routed along 3rd Street between Fairfax and either La Brea or Highland (depending on which phase of closures are involved – see below). Auto and other traffic will be re-directed largely to 6th Street for most of the closures.
During Phase I of the decking work, according to Metro’s decking website, which includes the first three weekends and the section of Wilshire from Detroit to La Brea, the detours will be:
Westbound: Northbound La Brea to Westbound 6th St. to Southbound Fairfax to Westbound Wilshire
Eastbound: Northbound Fairfax to Eastbound 6th St. to Southbound La Brea to Eastbound Wilshire
NOTE: Local access on Wilshire for businesses and residents will be maintained. The farthest that thru traffic can travel before needing to turn is:
Westbound – Wilshire/Fairfax
Eastbound – Wilshire/La Brea
For the Phase 2 Wilshire closures (three weekends for work done at the Wilshire/La Brea intersection):
Detour Info:
Northbound La Brea: Northbound La Brea to westbound Olympic to northbound Fairfax to eastbound 3rd to northbound La Brea.
Southbound La Brea: Southbound La Brea to westbound 3rd St. to southbound Fairfax to eastbound San Vicente to southbound La Brea. Local access maintained between 3rd and La Brea
NOTE: Local access on La Brea for business and residents will be maintained up to the Wilshire/La Brea intersection. The farthest that thru traffic can travel before needing to turn is:
Southbound La Brea: La Brea/6th intersection
Northbound La Brea: La Brea/8th intersection
Phase 3 (for the weekend closures from La Brea to Highland):
Detour Info:
Eastbound: Northbound La Brea to Eastbound 6th to Southbound Highland to Eastbound Wilshire
Westbound: Northbound Highland to Westbound 6th to Southbound La Brea to Westbound Wilshire
Kasey Shuda, Metro Construction Relations Manager, promised that Metro will do all it can to communicate the details of the closures and detours in the weeks before they happen, using a combination of paid advertising, media coverage, and even hiring a service to go door to door in adjoining neighborhoods with information. Informational materials will also be available on Metro buses that pass through the area.
Metro’s next Community Construction Update meeting will be held on Thursday, July 21, at the Petersen museum.  In addition to project updates, topics at that meeting will including the search for public art projects for the Purple Line Extension stations at La Brea, Fairfax and La Cienega.
For more information, see https://www.metro.net/projects/westside/
