Metro celebrates completion of track work for Regional Connector project

L.A. Metro has released its Fiscal 2023 budget.

en.wikipedia.org

Reaching a major construction milestone for the Regional Connector project, Metro has officially completed construction of all the track work, guideway systems and station platform areas for the Grand Av/Bunker Hill Station, paving the way for train and systems testing.

Metro has contracted with Regional Connector Constructors (RCC), a joint venture between Skanska USA Civil West California District, Inc., and Traylor Brothers, Inc., to design and build the $1.8-billion Regional Connector that will connect the A (Blue), E (Expo) and L (Gold) Lines in downtown Los Angeles, saving Metro transit riders valuable time by eliminating transfers and giving them a one-seat ride through DTLA. The entire transit project is now 90 percent complete.

Metro’s contractor has been able to achieve one of the best safety record of all of Metro construction projects, with more than six million hours worked without any lost time due to injury or incident. This is a testament to all the dedicated men and women working on this project representing one of the best safety records in the construction field.

The Regional Connector will also add equitable access to new destinations such as Broadway Historic Core and the performing and Visual Arts venues of the Walt Disney Concert HallColburn School, MOCA and the Broad Museum.

Officials took a train ride to the Historic Broadway Station as part of the completion’s media event.

The Regional Connector Transit Project is a 1.9-mile underground light-rail extension that will connect the A Line (Blue), the E Line (Expo) and the L Line (Gold) in downtown Los Angeles and will include three new stations that include the Little Tokyo/Arts District Station at 1st Street/Central Avenue, the Historic Broadway Station at 2nd Street/Broadway and the Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill Station at 2nd Place/Hope Street.

Once fully completed and operational, the project is expected to serve 88,000 riders daily – including 17,000 new riders – and save commuters up to 20 minutes by reducing the need to transfer for those riding to and through downtown L.A. The project will offer seamless North-South and East-West rail service — with one light rail running between Long Beach and Azusa and a second light rail line between Santa Monica and East Los Angeles. The two lines will share five DTLA stations where riders can easily transfer. 

Construction of Metro’s Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hills Station has been a complex undertaking due to the depth of the station, which is approximately 100 feet below street level — the deepest rail station in the agency’s entire rail system. More than 33,000 cubic yards of steel and concrete have been used to construct the station. More than 90,000 cubic yards of soil was excavated to build the station.

With track and guideway work now completed, Metro has begun train and systems testing in preparation for revenue operations, which is anticipated this Fall. Workers will now be concentrating on finishing the station’s plaza concourse and ancillary levels, testing remaining HVAC and fire/life safety systems, and completing station artwork, elevator and escalator installations.

To mitigate noise and vibration impacts to the community’s preforming art institutions the Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill Station uses a special type of floating slab track system. Here are a few more pics from today are below and an album of photos is here: 

Station Art

Also featured at the Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill station is new artwork at the concourse, designed by artist Pearl C. Hsiung, that towers over 60 feet— the tallest glass mosaic mural in the Metro system. Titled High Prismatic, the work recognizes the ever shifting and dynamic geological and cultural landscape of Bunker Hill. View the time lapse video of the mosaic dry-fit process completed by Metro Art prior to the mosaic installation. At the train platform, a new artwork on porcelain enamel steel designed by artist Mungo Thomson titled Negative Space, brings a stunning image of the cosmos, captured by the Hubble Telescope, underground. 

Site-specific artworks commissioned by Metro Art are featured at each of the three new stations along the Regional Connector Transit Project. Artists Andrea Bowers, Audrey Chan, Mark Steven Greenfield, Pearl C. Hsiung, Clare Rojas, Mungo Thomson and Clarence Williams were selected through an open, competitive selection process following the recommendation of a panel of community-based arts professionals.  Learn more about these artworks and Metro Art at www.metro.net/art.   

For more information on the Regional Connector Transit Project and construction updates, please visit to www.metro.net/regionalconnector.

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