clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Tunneling nearly complete on Metro's Regional Connector project

New, 1 comment

The second of two tunnels reached Bunker Hill Friday

Construction crews are nearly finished excavating the second of two tunnels for Metro's Regional Connector project, and on Friday, the tunnel reached the future Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill subway station in Downtown LA.

A video from Metro captures the drama of the moment when "Angeli," as the project's enormous tunnel boring machine is known, broke through to the under-construction station.

As The Source reports, the tunneling went faster than expected this time around, with workers making as much as 190 feet of progress in a day.

Having now completed a path between the project's three new stations, the tunnel boring machine will soon begin making its way to Fourth and Flower streets (about 1,370 feet away) in order to eventually connect the Regional Connector stops to the existing 7th Street/Metro Center Station.

Metro aims to complete the $1.75-billion project by the end of 2021. Once open to the public, the 1.9 miles of new track will connect the Blue and Expo lines to Union Station, and the Gold Line to Downtown's Financial District.

These three lines will then merge, allowing riders to make continuous trips between East LA and Santa Monica and between Azusa and Long Beach.