Here is the news release from Metro:
Major construction will begin Friday, May 2 on Metro Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project starting with work on the underground stations on Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards with a full street closure to implement a new traffic configuration.
Walsh/Shea Corridor Contractors (WSCC) will implement the new traffic configuration between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Stocker Street beginning at 10 p.m. on Friday, May 2, through 1 p.m. Saturday, May 3.
WSCC will place Crenshaw Boulevard k-rail (concrete barriers) on the eastside to separate the work area from the street traffic and re-stripe traffic lanes. Work is anticipated to last for 15 hours and will be done in two phases.
Phase 1
Southbound detour
Phase one will be from 10 p.m. Friday until 2 a.m. Saturday, diverting traffic between Jefferson Boulevard to Vernon Avenue. Motorists traveling southbound on Crenshaw Boulevard will be detoured left on Jefferson, right at Arlington, right at Vernon and left and back on to Crenshaw.
Phase 2
Northbound detour
Phase two will begin at 2 a.m. Saturday until 1 p.m. diverting traffic between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Stocker Street. Motorists traveling northbound on Crenshaw Boulevard will be detoured left on Stocker Street, right on Santa Rosalia Drive, right on Marlton Avenue, left on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and left on to Crenshaw Boulevard.
After the full street closure on Saturday, traffic will resume with two lanes in each direction. The bus stop located on the eastside of Crenshaw Boulevard will be temporarily relocated to the southeast corner of the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Stocker Street.
There will be limited access to businesses during the night time activity, however, pedestrian access will be maintained as well as access to emergency vehicles.
The 8.5-mile Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor Project is a light-rail line that will connect the Expo and Green Lines. The $2.058 billion Measure R transit project will serve the Crenshaw Corridor, Inglewood, Westchester and the LAX area with eight new stations, a maintenance facility, park-ride lots, traction power substations and the acquisition of rail vehicles and maintenance equipment.
Following the closure WSCC will begin these construction activities: utility relocation, pile installation, street decking and excavation.
Construction of the underground stations is anticipated to last four years. However, the construction work will be done underground. Traffic lanes will be reconfigured but traffic will be maintained during the four years of construction.
And here is the project fact sheet:
Here is information about changes to bus stops that begin to go into effect this month:
And here is information about the live online chat about the project that is tonight at 6 p.m. on reddit:
Metro Sponsors Live Chat at reddit.com to Discuss Crenshaw/LAX Line Project Construction, Upcoming Traffic Impacts
Metro is inviting the community, residents, business owners and motorists to learn about upcoming construction activities such as implementing a new traffic configuration around the future Crenshaw/Expo and Crenshaw/MLK stations starting in May during an internet chat scheduled on Tuesday, April 29, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at http://www.reddit.com/r/MetroLosAngeles/
Hosting the live chat will be project director Charles Beauvoir, who will provide detailed information on the first full street closures and options for pedestrians, motorists, business owners and general public.
The 8.5-mile Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project is a $2.058 billion light rail that will connect Metro’s Expo and Green Lines with eight new stations.
The full street closure is needed to implement traffic rerouting for the upcoming construction activities such as utility relocation, pile installation, decking and excavation.
Crenshaw Boulevard will be closed between Martin Luther King Jr. and Stocker Street from 10 p.m. on Friday, May 2, through 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 3, as work begins on the Crenshaw/MLK underground station.
On Friday, May 16, the second full street closure has been scheduled on Crenshaw Boulevard between Exposition Boulevard and Rodeo Place.
When the Crenshaw/LAX line opens to the public in 2019 passengers and customers will be able to travel to work, medical care, entertainment, shopping, school and other activities all over the entire Los Angeles region. It also will help revitalize the local and regional economy.
For more information on this project visit metro.net/crenshaw. To post live questions during the chat or e-mail advance questions, go to CrenshawCorridor@metro.net.
Those who don’t have computer access but wish to send their questions in advance should contact the project hot line at (213) 922-2736 and leave a message or if they want to participate during the live chat from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., call (213) 922-4601.
And, finally, here is information about an upcoming open house on May 14 about business opportunities on the Crenshaw/LAX Line project.
Categories: Projects
[…] see this earlier Source post for more information about upcoming construction activities and bus stop relocations along Crenshaw […]
Has the decision been made, whether the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are going to bore all the way down to Leimert Park (Vernon), or stop at MLK Blvd?
[…] surveyed the evolving stretch of the boulevard sprawled out before us, we talked about the pending Friday night closure of the boulevard between Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Stocker St. for recon…, the new “District Square” development slated for the site at Rodeo and Crenshaw, and […]
It’s my understanding that Metro is considering branching the Green Line at the western end, with half of the trains heading toward Redondo and the other half terminating at the Airport station. It would improve access to LAX, if they decide to do so.
I’m also not even going to get into what the line does at LAX. That’s a can of worms, I’m not here to debate the merits of each LAX plan itself, and I don’t have the time.
thanks for the great feedback. i hope to see all of measure r projects when they are finished. thanks for all you do for the county of los angeles to us back on track for the future. i love going metro.
[…] Metro Crenshaw Line Construction Work Gets Underway This Week (Source) […]
This is fantastic news…here comes the Crenshaw Line!
For those who do not know: the design of this project was a very long process, stretching back over five years. The process involved the public every step of the way. I know, I was there. Every option was considered, for costs, benefits, risks and opportunities. And decisions were made based on consensus wherever possible.
That process is now finished. Those people thinking up new ideas should have shown up to the meetings five, four, three years ago, when all this was being hammered out.
we need rail to lax. we are one of the only major cities in the u.s wihout rail to the airport. if this is going to be a more rail driven city we need to do it right. the airport is where alot of residents go. if you want to increase ridership please find more funding for the airport connector project.
Will the Crenshaw/Expo underground station have a mezzanine for crossovers and/or transfers? What will the connecting configuration between the Crenshaw and Expo Lines look like? [Remember that the at-grade Expo Line station has a split platform design!]
“When the Crenshaw/LAX line opens to the public in 2019 passengers and customers will be able to travel to work, medical care, entertainment, shopping, school and other activities all over the entire Los Angeles region. It also will help revitalize the local and regional economy.”
And all for a ridiculously fair price of $2.25 each way, regardless if it’s less than a mile a way from Aviation/Century to Aviation/LAX or 20+ miles all the way from LAX to Ontario Airport!
For the Transit Project Overview Fact Sheet, can Metro include estimated average travel time, estimated average train speed, and estimated headways?
Hi Craig;
Estimated travel time at this time between the Expo Line and Green Line is about 20 to 25 minutes for the 8.5 miles. Train speeds will vary on different segments due to variety of factors — grade separated, turns, etc.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
Mike Dunn. There’s not enough money to extend the Crenshaw Line to connect with Purple and Red Line, but it’s in the Long Range Transportation Plan. And it will connect with the Expo Line. Also, more trains means more space is needed to store them and maintain them. You need multiple rail yards for various logistical purposes. This is not a boondoggle. It’s common sense planning. Please read up before vilifying this project. There’s probably going to be a people mover to connect with the Crenshaw line. But you do have a valid point that the Green Line not connecting closer to LAX was a terrible mistake.
Absolutely ridicules. No connection to the Purple Line. No rail connection to the Expo Line. Five years to build a eight mile line. And lastly why another rail yard. This boondoggle ends just north of the Green Line Yard. How on earth can they call it the Crenshaw/LAX light rail line when it doesn’t go into LAX just like the Green Line. Two lines missing the mark by only blocks.
It’s too bad they couldn’t put in track to allow through trains to Los Angeles which would mean a one-sit from LAX to Union Station.