{"id":268016,"date":"2026-04-14T22:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T22:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/268016\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T22:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T22:22:09","slug":"check-out-wilshire-subway-book-and-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/268016\/","title":{"rendered":"Check Out ‘Wilshire Subway’ Book and Exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a handsome new photo book out that belongs on L.A. urbanist shelves. Wilshire Subway<\/a> documents the history of what is now known as the Metro D Line.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Cover of Wilshire Subway <\/p>\n

The 80-page paperback is written by historian India Mandelkern (one of the writers behind Metro\u2019s The Source<\/a>), and propelled by the noble heroic photographs of Ken Karagozian. The book tells the story of the planning and construction of the D Line subway beneath Wilshire Boulevard. Much of the book\u2019s focus is on the workers \u2013 miners, carpenters, mechanics, and many others \u2013 who did, and are doing, the actual construction.<\/p>\n

Also included are essays by Antonio Villaraigosa, David Ulin, Leo Marmol, and James Rojas. <\/p>\n

Metro is currently extending its D Line heavy rail subway nine miles from its current Koreatown terminus \u2013 all the way to Westwood. The $10 billion mega-project is split up into three sections, all currently under construction, and expected to be open for the 2028 Olympics\/Paralympics. <\/p>\n

The first 4-mile $3.5 billion section \u2013 from Western Avenue to La Cienega Boulevard \u2013 will open on Friday May 8<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Wilshire Subway details how the evolving project had gone by many names \u2013 the Backbone Route, the Subway to the Sea, the Metro Purple Line, and now the D Line. Voters got the project moving by approving Metro sales tax funding, 2008\u2019s Measure R. Metro broke ground in 2014.<\/p>\n

The book gives readers a sense of the massive tunnel boring machine (TBM) technology that simultaneously digs a tunnel, and lines it with a permanent pre-cast concrete shell.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One of several pages of Wilshire Subway that show and tell the stories of the project\u2019s half-dozen Tunnel Boring Machines <\/p>\n

The book documents how D Line Section 1 workers successfully bored their way through challenging soils near the La Brea tar pits. Various obstacles \u2013 including oil saturated sands, methane gas, and a high water table \u2013 slowed tunnel boring to half of its typical 60 feet per day. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Two of dozens of construction workers pictured and profiled in Wilshire Subway<\/p>\n

Purchase your own copy of Wilshire Subway for $25, plus tax and shipping. Purchase online or via local bookstores \u2013 see listing<\/a>. Starting May 1, the book\u2019s magnificent Ken Karagozian photos will be on display at 1301PE (gallery)<\/a> at 6150 Wilshire Boulevard.<\/p>\n

Purchase a signed copy of Wilshire Subway at the L.A. Times Festival of Books<\/a> (at USC April 18-19), the Printed Matter LA Art Book Fair<\/a> (at ArtCenter May 7-10), or at the 1301PE opening reception on Friday May 1.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Invitation to Wilshire Subway photo exhibition at 1301PE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a handsome new photo book out that belongs on L.A. urbanist shelves. Wilshire Subway documents the history…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49,109921],"class_list":{"0":"post-268016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-la","9":"tag-la-headlines","10":"tag-la-news","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","13":"tag-los-angeles-news","14":"tag-promoted"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}