Photos: Juan Ocampo/Metro

Be prepared: Metro is getting ready to start construction on the future Wilshire/La Brea Station for the Purple Line Extension subway. The process begins with excavating a portion of Wilshire Boulevard and replacing it with concrete deck panels, which will allow traffic flow to continue on the street while beneath the station is excavated.

The first weekend of decking operations will start Friday night, June 10, and portions of Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile area will be closed for 22 weekends thereafter. No decking work will be conducted during the regular work week and during the Fourth of July or Labor Day weekends.

The Wilshire closures will take place in three phases:

• Phase 1: three weekend closures between Detroit Street and La Brea Avenue. Detour via 6th St. and Fairfax Ave.
• Phase 2: three weekend closures at Wilshire/La Brea intersection. Detour via Highland Ave., 6th St. and Fairfax Ave.
• Phase 3: 16 weekend closures between La Brea Ave. and Highland Ave. Detour via 6th St. and Highland Ave. or 6th St. and La Brea Ave.

During each weekend, Wilshire Blvd. will be closed from 8 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Monday. The contractor Skanska, Traylor and Shea will also conduct other work activities for the subway during the weekend closures. More details and the full construction notice can be found here. Bus detour info during the closures can be found here.

Changeable message signs will be placed on the street with detour information, and traffic control officers will be at intersections to assist motorists. Those who need to travel through the area should plan ahead, follow street detours and allow extra time. Local access for businesses and residents will be maintained. Sidewalk access will be maintained with intermittent closures.

The first section of the $6.3-billion Metro Purple Line Extension Project now under construction will add nearly four miles of subway from Wilshire/Western Station with new stations at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega. The first section is scheduled to be operational in 2023.  Two subsequent sections will add four more stations in downtown Beverly Hills, Century City, Wilshire/Westwood and Wilshire/VA Hospital. Metro is pursuing funding to try to accelerate the entire project — including a potential sales tax ballot measure that would go to L.A. County voters in November.

For questions or concerns related to this work or any Purple Line Extension construction activity, please call the project hotline at 213.922.6934 or email purplelineext@metro.net.

Here’s the full press release from Metro. Video from the event is below.

More photos for public and media use can be found in this Flickr album.