Metro began construction earlier this week for a new pedestrian bridge connecting to the Grand Ave Arts/Bunker Hill subway station in Downtown Los Angeles.

The new bridge, which will span across Hope Street to the north of General Thaddeus Kosciuszko Way, will link the station with a pedestrian plaza adjacent to The Broad contemporary art museum.  The subway stop, which located at the intersection of 2nd and Hope Streets, sits downhill from the various commercial and cultural institutions lining Grand Avenue, including California Plaza, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Music Center, and The Grand.

Inglewood-based architecture firm (fer) studio is designing the bridge, which is depicted as a concrete structure separated into two rectangular segments, each centered on a planter.  A similar treatment has been proposed for the currently unadorned concrete expanse at the back of The Broad.

Construction of the bridge of expected to occur over an approximately three-month period, per a presentation given this month by Metro representatives.

The Grand Ave Arts/Bunker Hill Station is being built by Metro as part of the $1.8-billion Regional Connector project, a 1.9-mile subway tunnel which will connect the A, E, and L Lines.  The tunnel, which is on pace to open for passenger service in 2022, will include additional stops in the Civic Center, and Little Tokyo.

The new pedestrian bridge connecting to The Broad builds on a complicated legacy of pedestrian bridges in Downtown Los Angeles. Bunker Hill has long been connected by a network of similar structures - called "pedways" - which were built in the 1970s in anticipation of a never-completed people mover system.