The Purple Line (D Line) Extension reached a major milestone earlier this month when the design-builder (STS) completed the removal of temporary decking of the street at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue.

Originally expected to require 13 weekends of work — including the pausing of work for holiday weekends — the restoration was scheduled to end Monday, February 13. That was before three weekends were lost to storms and another weekend was skipped to accommodate an annual event on Museum Row.

With the work completed on last week, stakeholders will no longer have to contemplate a full closure of the busy intersection.

In addition to removing the underlying steel beams and temporary concrete panels — which weigh the same as a small sedan — workers had to deliver enormous amounts of soil to backfill the gap between the Fairfax Station roof and the Wilshire Boulevard surface. This gap averaged approximately 17 feet.

Then workers laid the permanent asphalt surface and striped it with traffic lanes.

That workers were able to complete final paving is itself a sign of D Line project progress. A quantity of materials must be delivered and removed through the station roof before it can be completed and the decking panel removed.

Section 1 of the D Line extension — including the new La Cienega, Fairfax, and La Brea stations — is forecast to open in late 2024. Permanent rail is being added to the complete Section 1 tunnels. The last roof pour of the three excavated stations is also complete.

A couple more photos of the work are below: