photos: Metro.

The first pile was lowered into the ground on Tuesday for the Purple Line Extension near the intersection of Wilshire and La Brea — specifically on Wilshire between La Brea and Detroit Street.

The piles will support the walls of the Wilshire/La Brea underground station and support the decking that will be built over the street in 2016. The decking will allow traffic to continue to use Wilshire while station excavation continues below street level.

Metro is currently evaluating traffic data as part of scheduling the closure of Wilshire Boulevard at La Brea in April to install the decking. There are two options for closing Wilshire for the decking work:

Metro has been asking community members to chime in with their opinion on which closure scenario they would rather have. Metro will host a community meeting in January to share its findings. Once a decision is made, we’ll do our best to keep everyone informed about street closures and detours for transit and traffic.

Here’s a time-lapse video taken earlier this year of decking work on Crenshaw Boulevard that was done as part of the work on the underground Crenshaw/Vernon Station:

The Purple Line Extension is being built in three phases and is funded by Measure R — the half-cent sales tax increase approved by L.A. County voters in 2008, — and a hefty federal grant. The first 3.9-mile segment from Wilshire/Western to Wilshire La Cienega is expected to be complete in late 2023 with stations at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega.