The work began Friday to remove the concrete between between the Bloc and 7th St/Metro Center. Once completed this winter, Metro riders will be able to go straight between the nicely revamped outdoor mall and the busy train station for the Blue, Expo, Purple and Red Lines without having to cross 7th Street.
My colleague Anna Chen is very excited about this rail station-to-mall direct connection — it reminds her of the Taipei MRT which has several stations that exit directly into department stores and shopping centers. For Metro, this is a great step in the right direction.
Here are some pics — all views from the Bloc side:
These are from Friday from the Bloc side:
Goodbye concrete wall! Photo by Steve Hymon/Metro.
The guy sitting is using a remote joystick to control the machine at left that is knocking down the wall. Photo by Steve Hymon/Metro.
And then from over the weekend:
And the guys who did a lot of the work for the Ratkovich Company:
And finally, a glimpse of what it will look like once the underpass is complete and you can walk directly from station to mall:
Categories: Projects
No plans at all for the other side figat7th???
That probably depends on whether the property owner wants to pay for it. No skin off my back, I avoid malls like the plague.
OTOH I’m wondering if there’s a way to connect to the lesser known skywalk system to the north.
As I’ve posted before: METRO, UPGRADE YOUR ENTRANCE SIGNAGE AT 7TH / METRO !! Those faux art deco (?) oxidized brass signs are near impossible to see by visitors new to DTLA; they need to be replaced by the Big M logo on a proper white background.
Drat, forgot to ask: why aren’t dust masks worn by those fellows?
Looking at the 3 gentlemen in the next to last picture, none of them have the appropriate trim on their facial hair to allow them to properly wear a respirator (for concrete dust the little white dust masks won’t work.) The one seated was wearing a respirator, with the appropriate filters.