“The Onlooker” – Expo 2 is Over 50% Complete!

This photo was taken by Dave Vornberger of LA Expo.  Expo Light Rail Transit Construction at night lowering the bridge at Sawtelle Blvd.  Adjacent street light pole has a banner for the Annenberg Space for Photography show for National Geographic photos.

Phase two of the Expo Light Rail Line, from Culver City to Santa Monica, is now 50 percent complete and is on-time and on-budget, according to the Expo E-News Fall 2013 newsletter.  A majority of the eight bridges along the alignment are nearing completion, including the Venice Boulevard Bridge linking Phase 1 and Phase 2 at the intersection of Venice and Robertson boulevards.  Work at the 26th Street/Bergamot and Westwood/Rancho Park stations is well underway, with station foundation and utility work in progress.  Construction of the maintenance facility in Santa Monica began this summer and will be completed next fall.  Site excavation activities are ongoing and construction of building foundations will follow in the next quarter Utility relocations are continuing throughout the alignment, with SRJV working to minimize impacts on residents, businesses, drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.  “We are proud to announce that SRJV has achieved one million hours worked on the project without a lost time incident over the past two years, keeping both the construction team and the public safe,” the newsletter reads. “We appreciate your patience throughout this major construction work.”  The next major milestone for the Expo Phase 2 project is track installation starting this fall.

Phase 2 of the Expo Line is expected to start operating all the way to downtown Santa Monica in 2016.  Phase 2 will link the Expo Line from Culver City to the Santa Monica terminus at 4th and Colorado. The budget for Phase 2 is $1.5 billion.

Click here for the full article in the Santa Monica Mirror

Click here for a Photo Essay on the Project from LA Streets Blog