Purple Line: Construction starts to link Wilshire/Western to subway’s Westside extension

Construction crews will begin work Friday on an important part of the Purple Line subway extension: connecting the new tunnels to the route’s current terminus at the Wilshire/Western station in Koreatown.

For commuters, that means another round of weekend street closures along Wilshire Boulevard, as The Source reports. The street will be closed off to traffic between Western Avenue and Manhattan Place from 9 p.m. on Fridays and 6 a.m. on Mondays for 14 weekends, starting October 27 (there won’t be closures over Thanksgiving and Christmas weekends).

On top of that, Wilshire Boulevard will be cut down to two lanes for the two blocks between Western Avenue and Saint Andrews Place. Several sidewalks in the area will also be closed off while work on the project is ongoing.

Decking work at Wilshire and Western will bring another month of weekend closures starting in March.

Fortunately for current Purple Line riders, the Wilshire/Western station itself will remain open during construction.

The end result of all the construction, which has already become a fact of life in the Miracle Mile area, will be a subway stretching from Downtown LA to the Veterans Affairs hospital in Westwood. The first phase of the nine-mile project, which will bring the Purple Line to La Cienega Boulevard, is on pace to wrap up by 2023.

• 6 things you need to know about the Purple Line subway extension [Curbed LA]
• Purple Line subway extension to Century City gets green light to move forward [Curbed LA]
• Wilshire street closures wrap up six weeks ahead of schedule [Curbed LA]