Purple Line street closures near Wilshire/Fairfax are done

Purple Line-related street closures that were expected to snarl traffic for 18 weekends near Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile have wrapped up five weekends early, says The Source.

The closures were necessary for decking work in the area near the subway’s future stop at Fairfax and Wilshire. Decking is the term for when streets and sidewalks are excavated and capped off with temporary concrete panels that act as a street surface while work continues on the underground station.

There’s still construction that needs to happen in the area. “Street restoration” is supposed to take place next month, and there will be ongoing excavation.

The forthcoming Fairfax station is part of the Purple Line’s extension from its terminus at Wilshire/Western west to Wilshire/La Cienega.

Video footage of all the worth of work has been compressed into a timelapse video from Metro, embedded below. The familiar landmarks in the background—the May Company building, the Petersen Automotive Museum—help orient viewers to the footage. (Wild to think that we’ll soon be able to take a train to the Academy Museum!)

The work on this and the two other future Purple Line stations on Wilshire at La Brea and La Cienega is expected to be complete in late 2023, when the new segment is forecast to open.

• Decking at future Wilshire/Fairfax subway station finished 5 weekends early [The Source]
• 18 weekends of street closures near Wilshire/Fairfax start today [Curbed LA]