County officials have voted to postpone a rail construction project in Little Tokyo by a month after several small business owners and residents expressed their concerns that the plan would disrupt upcoming holiday events, says a Los Angeles County supervisor.
“We honor and respect the fact that this time of year is a culturally significant season for those who live and work in Little Tokyo,” Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, who sits on the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said in a statement.
Metro is constructing a new 1.9-mile Metro rail extension line — or Regional Connector — that would link the Gold Line’s Little Tokyo/Arts District station with the 7th Street/Metro Center station in downtown.
The new line will give passengers an option to directly transfer to the Blue, Expo, Red and Purple Lines, without having to travel to Union Station. The underground rail extension line will serve Little Tokyo and the Arts District, among other downtown neighborhoods.
Last month, Metro announced that it would move up the date of construction, which would be near the intersection of First and Alameda streets.
The construction was originally scheduled to begin in spring 2016, but the Board pushed up the date to Dec. 4 because of unexpected construction problems. The project will require a more than a two-month closure of First Street and lane closures on Alameda Street.
“It is vital to mitigate potential impacts that construction will have on the Little Tokyo business community during the busy holiday shopping season, which accounts for a significant amount of their annual revenue,” county Supervisor Michael Antonovich said.
“We appreciate the business community bringing this matter to our attention so we could provide solutions to the problem,” Antonovich said.
December is one of Little Tokyo’s busiest commercial retail months of the year, given that the holiday season culminates with a Japanese New Year celebration observed on Jan. 1. Residents said they were concerned the project would increase traffic on their side streets.
—City News Service