Traffic Delays Expected As Work Continues On Crenshaw/LAX Line Project

CRENSHAW (CBSLA.com) — Southland drivers could face traffic delays this weekend as construction work related to the Crenshaw/LAX Line expands to the mid-city area.

Metro officials will implement three full-street closures along three different Crenshaw Boulevard locations where construction of the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project underground stations is taking place Sept. 12-15.

Officials also offered members of the media a tour of the underground station construction sites for the rail line, which will go within a mile of the airport.

"It's a two-billion-dollar project, eight and a half miles, eight and a half stations," Metro Project Director Charles Beauvoir said. "This weekend, from Friday night until Monday morning, we will be impacting Crenshaw."

Beauvoir told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO that while most of the work will be conducted underground, drivers should the delays on Crenshaw Boulevard to be consistent.

"Along Crenshaw we're expecting this coming weekend to have closures that extend from approximately Vernon all the way up to Expo[sition], as all three underground stations will be worked upon," said Beauvoir.

Business owners in the area say they are not pleased with the construction, and expect business to take a hit.

"We're suffering so bad, because we're forced to go out of business," Jamie Edwards of Stakely's Barbershop said. "They're thinking that the businesses will close down, and (the customers) don't want to go through all the traffic confusion, so they keep going. And we're losing them because they're finding other barbershops to go to."

A number of local residents say the construction does not impact their lives too much, as they tend to walk instead of drive.

"That's why I like to travel by foot," resident Jerry Williams said. "So that way, I avoid the congestion."

The ongoing project was responsible for the so-called "Century Crunch" traffic event back in July.

Click here for a full list of closures.