Eyes on the Street: North Hollywood Station Tunnel Construction

Last December, Streetsblog L.A. reported that construction had gotten underway for Metro's new tunnel below Lankershim Boulevard. The $22 million North Hollywood Station Underpass will connect the Red Line subway with the Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit. Full details and diagrams at the earlier article.

Visitors to this Sunday's CicLAvia - The Valley will not be able to go through the actual tunnel, but sharp-eyed transportation-infrastructure-spotters may be interested to see evidence of the construction in process. There is a fenced-off surface construction zone on the west side of Lankershim.

Perhaps more interesting is the spot inside the Red Line station where the tunnel will soon connect. At the mezzanine level, just west of the elevator (on passengers' left when disembarking), there was a semi-circular mosaic mural, one part of series of colorful kaleidoscopic pieces throughout the subway station.

The mural was installed on a knock-out panel. The panel was recently isolated (see above), then removed. 

The tunnel is expected to be completed Spring 2016, with the mural piece re-installed along the new tunnel.

The other not-so-exciting construction to look for at Sunday's CicLAvia - The Valley is the beginnings of the pedestrian bridge over Lankershim at the Universal Metro Red Line Station. For more information on that project, see Metro's fact sheet [PDF]. No bridge in sight yet, but surface construction fencing is up. The Universal City Pedestrian Bridge Project is also expected to be completed Spring 2016.