Plans Announced to Extend the Purple Line
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joined city officials Tuesday to announce the start of utility relocation work for the Metro Purple Line Westside subway extension project. Utility crews began to relocate telecommunication lines in preparation for the future construction near the Wilshire/La Brea Purple Line Station.
Villaraigosa showed his support for the project when he stated that Tuesday is when we put "shovels on the ground and take a major step forward on one of Measure R's most iconic projects."
According to the Metro website, "the approved project is a nine-mile westward extension of the Metro Purple Line subway."
From the current Wilshire/Western station, this project will add seven additional stations at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, Wilshire/La Cienega, Wilshire/Rodeo, Century City, Westwood/UCLA (at Wilshire/Westwood), and Westwood/VA Hospital.
"I'm very excited," said "Glamour Girl" store owner, Kim Jones. Jones feels that the extension will bring more people to the area.
The project will be completed in three phases. The first phase of the project will break ground in 2014 while the other two phases are scheduled to begin construction in 2019 and 2027.
The Purple Line Extension project is one of many new transit projects which are included in Measure R.
The measure, approved by Los Angeles County voters in 2008, is a half-cent sales tax that collects funds for 30 years for transportation projects.
