LACMTA celebrates excavation of Crenshaw/LAX tunnel

Written by Kyra Senese, Managing Editor
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Juan Ocampo/LACMTA

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) completed the excavation of one of the twin tunnels along the northern section of its Crenshaw/LAX Line on Oct. 20.

 

The tunnel-boring machine (TBM), named Harriet, will now be disassembled and returned to Expo and Crenshaw, where it will go back underground and be reassembled to begin digging the other twin rail tunnel.

The underground section is set to include three of the eight new stations being built for the project: Crenshaw/Expo, Leimert Park and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Harriet went underground at the Crenshaw/Expo Station in February 2016 and started digging south in April, reaching the MLK Station in August. The TBM continued digging in September, resulting in the mile-long tunnel.

The Crenshaw/LAX Line is expected to begin service in fall 2019. LACMTA CEO Phil Washington also announced Oct. 20 that Walsh Shea Corridor Constructors, the firm building the project, has signed on to do the civil work, grading and other preparations for a ninth station. Representatives say environmental studies of the project are ongoing.

The Crenshaw/LAX Line, the Green Line and several bus lines are expected to use the station. Commonly referred to as the Airport Metro Connector, the station will serve as the transfer point to the LAX automated people mover that will transport passengers to three stations at the local airport terminals.

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