Weekend street closures at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue for the construction of the Purple Line Extension subway has been completed five weekends earlier than originally scheduled — even after interruptions due to heavy rains impacted work earlier this spring.

The decking operation included excavating a portion of the roadway and replacing it with concrete deck panels that will act as a temporary street surface while underground station excavation continues below. There are 575 concrete panels measure 9 feet by 14 feet that have been installed for the Wilshire/Fairfax decking.

Deck panel installation was originally scheduled to occur over 18 weekends beginning in February 2017. However, Metro and its contractor Skanska-Traylor-Shea (STS) were able to expedite work with (among other strategies) early lane reductions on Fridays and close coordination with elected officials, community stakeholders and city of L.A. departments.

Street restoration work is scheduled to take place in July. Other construction activities ongoing at Wilshire/Fairfax include excavation and deck openings for deliveries.

Progress is also being made at Wilshire/La Cienega, the third planned subway station for the project’s first section. STS is near completion with piling operations on the south side of Wilshire and will be switching to the north side toward the end of this month. This construction activity will require some lane reductions for approximately eight to 10 months.

The 3.9-mile first section of the Purple Line Extension will extend the subway from its current terminus to stations at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega. The first section is forecast to open in late 2023. The second section will extend the subway to downtown Beverly Hills and the third section to Westwood. Metro’s goal is to complete the project by 2024 if federal funding can be secured for the third section.

And here is a nice gallery of decking work at Wilshire/Fairfax over the last few months:

Photos by L.A. Metro.