Living with Disruption During the Subway Construction
This blog is for all of you that commute in and out of Westwood, specifically along Wilshire Blvd. And if you live on the Wilshire Corridor, even more so.
The Purple Line subway extension is about to hit you square in the face. Over the next six years you are going to experience disruption and traffic jams. You will change the way you plan your evening outside of your home or condo as well as what route you take to return home. The subway is coming, scheduled to start service in March of 2026.
On April 9th and for two years, the infrastructure work will begin along Wilshire Blvd, generally between Veteran and Malcolm. Something in the area of 14 utility, telecom, drain and other lines will be replaced to avoid conflicts with the incoming subway construction.
What does this mean for you? A lot. It’s the beginning of two years of Wilshire Blvd lane closures at night and weekends. Monday thru Thursday from 9:00pm to 6:00am, and Friday 9:00pm all the way through to 6:00am Monday morning, in multiple stages.
Stage 1 – 9 days – Left turns restricted from westbound Wilshire Blvd to southbound Malcom Ave and Wilshire Blvd lane closures down to one lane.
Stage 2 – 54 days – Left turns restricted at Wilshire Blvd/Westwood Blvd, left turns restricted from westbound Wilshire Blvd to southbound Malcom Ave and Wilshire Blvd lane closures down to one lane.
Stage 3 – 131 days – Right turns restricted from southbound Westwood Blvd to westbound Wilshire Blvd, left turns restricted from eastbound Wilshire Blvd to northbound Westwood Blvd, left turns restricted from northbound Westwood Blvd to westbound Wilshire Blvd and Wilshire Blvd lane closures.
Stage 4 – 15 days – Left turns restricted from southbound Gayley Ave to eastbound Wilshire Blvd, right turns restricted from northbound Midvale Ave to eastbound Wilshire Blvd and Wilshire Blvd lane closures.
Stage 4A – 50 days – Left turns restricted from Gayley Ave/ Midvale Ave to Wilshire Blvd and Wilshire Blvd lane closures.
Stage 5 – 5 days – Right turns restricted from southbound Gayley Ave to westbound Wilshire Blvd, left turns restricted from northbound Midvale Blvd to westbound Wilshire Blvd and Wilshire Blvd lane closures.
Stage 5A – 24 days – South bound Gayley Ave closed from Lindbrook Dr to Wilshire Blvd, left turns restricted at Wilshire Blvd/ Midvale Ave-Gayley Ave and Wilshire Blvd lane closures.
The Westwood station is planned to be the largest of any along the Purple Line. The box will be built on the north side of Wilshire immediately west of Westwood Blvd. Underneath the street, the station will have exits on both sides of Wilshire. Situated between the Beverly Hills Rodeo station (which is actually on Wilshire and Canon) and the Veterans Administration station (the last stop scheduled for the Purple Line), it will be a major transit stop with no parking spots. In fact, none of the Purple Line stations have any parking spots scheduled to be built.
The next few years will be very difficult on all of us in Westwood as it has been for the Wilshire Fairfax and mid-Wilshire communities and as it will be for the Beverly Hills commercial community and the Veterans Avenue Brentwood community. We just need to be calm and relaxed and try to organize our car trips around the construction schedule. Take some extra time, use the side streets and avoid Wilshire Blvd if at all possible, from Beverly Hills to Brentwood.
For more information including a detailed diagram of the actual lane closures in Westwood, please click the link below.
http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20180323/21/58/1a/55/7f84b47c9697de1b4885fa6f/3-22-18_PLE_Section_3_Community_Meeting_Presentation_V4.pdf
Even in the best of circumstances selling luxury high rise condominiums is a challenge. If you’re considering selling your condo, call us. We sell and list more units than any other agent on the Corridor and our expertise will you get past the stress of selling a condo under these onerous restrictions for the next six years.
