Last week I went down to Crenshaw and Exposition to see what was happening with the construction of the Crenshaw/LAX Line. Work is underway, though it will be years before the project is finished.
A view from the Crenshaw side of the construction site.
Another view from the Crenshaw side.
And here’s a shot taken from the entrance to the site.
While I was there I also took a look at the huge vacant lot that runs along Crenshaw just below the MTA’s construction site.
The fence surrounds a large empty parcel just across the street from the MTA site.
I was wondering if there were any plans to develop the parcel, so I got on the net and started looking around. Apparently this will be the home of the proposed District Square retail complex. For more info, follow this link to a post from earlier this year on Building Los Angeles.
Right now it’s just a lot of dirt, but the temporary fence running around this area does offer the candidates in the school board special election a place to post their ads.
School board candidates vying for your vote.
You can see the barricades blocking off a good stretch of Crenshaw. Also the large signs letting people know that the businesses along Crenshaw are open during construction.
Looking at the barricades set up on the west side of Crenshaw during construction.
Projects like this can be really hard on business owners, since the work impacts both traffic and parking. And we’re not just talking about a few months, but years. In the long run, the transit line will probably bring more people to the area and be a boon to local merchants, but in the short term, the construction can cause real hardship.
Heavy machinery parked on Crenshaw.
If you haven’t already read about the Crenshaw/LAX Line, here’s a link to the overview at the MTA’s web site.
The Horizon and the Skyline 