Current Project Information
LA Metro Regional Connector Transit Project
The Regional Connector Construction Project is a 1.9-mile underground light-rail system connecting the Metro Gold Line to the 7th Street/Metro Center Station. It will include three new stations: Little Tokyo/Arts District Station – 1st St/Central Av - Historic Broadway Station – 2nd St/Broadway and Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill Station – 2nd Pl/Hope St
Notable project milestones, include: the launch and retrieval of a tunnel boring machine between 2017 and 2018, extensive cut-and-cover work across the alignment, and the construction of a crossover cavern underneath 2nd St, mined using the sequential excavation method. This project is forecasted to open in 2022.
Purple Line Extension Transit Project
Section 1 of the Purple Line Extension Construction Project will add three new stations and 3.92 miles of new rail to Metro’s Rail system. The three new stations will be located at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, and Wilshire/La Cienega. The project will extend the current Purple Line from Koreatown through Miracle Mile and is expected to begin operations in 2023. Currently there are two tunnel boring machine that started at Wilshire and LaBrea heading east and when this is completed both TBM’s will then start again at Wilshire and LaBrea and head west. This construction project is divided into three sections and will eventually travel underground thru Beverly Hills, Century City and ending in Westwood.
6th St Viaduct
The Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement Project is one of America’s most famous and iconic bridges, the Sixth Street Viaduct, acts as a vital connection between the growing Arts District on the west side of the Los Angeles River and the historic neighborhood of Boyle Heights on the east side. The bridge, built in 1932, spans nearly 3,500 feet across the river and has been used to represent Los Angeles’s more gritty side in countless movies, music videos and TV commercials, including riverbed car chases.
The new viaduct will have ten pairs of lit arches that will create a dramatic nighttime effect.The construction completion date is set for the end of 2020.
I first met Ray while taking an Owens Valley Workshop in 1989. Ray, John Sexton and Bruce Barnbaum were the instructors. This workshop opened my vision on the craft of a making a fine art photographic print. Ray lived in the Los Angeles where he helped me with my photography technique and vision. I took more workshops with him in downtown Los Angeles and the Southwest. Ray and I became good friends while photographing in the Southwest as well as photographing weekly in downtown Los Angeles. In 2014, Ray passed away and I became the executor of his estate. With the help of Janet and Joan Schipper and the many friends of Ray who donated money to help assemble and store his archives. Ray’s talented art work is now part of the Huntington Library, Portland Art Museum, Center of Creative Photography, Los Angeles Central Library, University of Utah Marriott Library and Heard Museum. His Southwest book collection is at Ghost Ranch.
On my website links page, you may find a link to Ray’s website, Wikipedia article on Ray, and from Foundation for Photographic Preservation a case study written by Janet about “Preserving Ray’s Archives”. The work continues on finding other institutions to accept Ray’s archives.