Archinect - News

LA halts Metro Purple Line construction over worker safety concerns

2022-10-28T17:09:00-04:00

Work on the vast expansion of the Metro Purple Line in Los Angeles has come to an abrupt stop following dozens of worker injuries and safety concerns that officials say have not been addressed. “Metro has ordered its contractor to temporarily suspend all field work on the Purple Line Extension Section 2 Project due to the unacceptable rate of serious worker injuries,” Metro said in a statement. "The safety of those building our county’s transportation projects must always be protected.”

A total of nine serious incidents were recorded this calendar year alone, with several near-misses that could have been “more serious,” according to Metro’s letter to general contractor Tutor Perini. Parts of the project had previously accelerated thanks to Covid-related street closures. According to KTLA, the Metro has issued an order to Tutor Perini to produce a revised safety plan before work on the six-station project can resume.

COVID-19 facilitates accelerated subway construction in Los Angeles

2020-06-24T19:58:00-04:00

After committing to shutting down a stretch of Wilshire Boulevard running through the city of Beverly Hills to speed up subway construction earlier this year, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced that it has completed decking work in the area seven months ahead of schedule.

Map of planned Purple / D Line extensions. Image courtesy of Metro.

Back in April, Metro and local officials hammered out a plan to fully shut down the street in order to take advantage of the drastically reduced traffic activity in the area due to the region's stay-at-home orders following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the LA Metro had planned to conduct partial closures of the street in question on weekends over a seven month stretch starting in August 2020, but now, three months later, this work has been completed.

Previously on Archinect: "Coronavirus slowdown could push L.A. subway construction six months ahead of schedule." Photo showing subway construction al...

Coronavirus slowdown could push L.A. subway construction six months ahead of schedule

2020-04-02T12:52:00-04:00

A planned Los Angeles County subway extension could see the light of day six months ahead of schedule, as the social and economic shutdown put in place to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus strain prompts authorities to consider consolidating construction activities.

A recent report from Streetsblog indicates that as the volume of pedestrian and vehicle traffic has dropped across the region, authorities in the city of Beverly Hills have worked an agreement with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) that would allow Metro to speed up construction of its forthcoming Purple Line by up to six months.

Map highlighting the section to be closed in red. Image courtesy of City of Beverly Hills.

Though the wealthy enclave has fought tooth and nail to stop or slow down the subway route running below its streets, it now seems that the opportunity to have construction come to fruition at a quicker pace could convince the Beverly Hills City Council to allow f...

Beverly Hills schools want to convince Trump administration to cut funds for L.A. Metro Purple Line extension

2018-10-12T15:11:00-04:00

While the school district had tried repeatedly in court to stop Metro from building the subway underneath the high school’s campus, Korbatov’s “Stop the Purple Threat” campaign takes a different approach: Nab the attention of President Donald Trump and try to convince him to order the withdrawal of federal funding from the Purple Line extension.

School district administrators also helped BHHS students organize a districtwide “walkout” that took place today in protest of the Purple Line extension, whose second phase is already underway. Here are some interesting Twitter updates from LA Times transportation reporter Laura J. Nelson.

L.A. seeks to accelerate infrastructure projects in advance of potential Olympics

2015-09-10T15:10:00-04:00

Citing L.A.'s quest to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles County transportation officials are seeking to fast-track two of Metro's most anticipated rail projects. In letters sent Tuesday and obtained by The Times, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority formally asked to join a Federal Transit Administration pilot program that could accelerate construction on a subway to the Westside and a rail connection to Los Angeles International Airport...

Pending federal approval (and cash – $1 billion, to be precise), Metro hopes to pursue an "extremely aggressive" schedule, completing the Purple Line subway extension as well as the LAX "people-mover" by the potential opening of a 2024 Los Angeles Olympics.

Currently, the Purple Line is scheduled to extend from its current terminus in Koreatown towards the Westside over the course of 16 years, and in three stages. According to the Times, the new plan would mean that all three stages would be worked concurrently: Koreatown to Mid-Wilshire, Mid-Wilshire to Century City, Century City to West LA.

The LAX "people-mover," a much-need and anticipated terminal train, is currently scheduled to start service by 2028. Under the accelerated timeline, that would be moved to 2024 as well. In addition, it would be linked to the currently-planned connection between the Green Line, which runs across the South Bay, and the Expo Line, which cuts across Mid-City.

Alongside the hoped-for $1-billion federa...