WEST HOLLYWOOD—As of July 1, the Sunset Strip Beautification Project is still underway, making and securing jobs for contractors such as Sequel Contractors Inc. They are responsible for the ongoing development in creating a more beautiful Sunset Strip; one of the most famous streets in the world. This project has created or saved 228 jobs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Since its last renovation in the 1930s, the strip is in moderate structural condition. The plan has been ongoing since January 4, and will continue until the end of July. During working hours, which will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., traffic lanes will be reduced to one lane in each direction.

Because of the problems that traffic can cause, the grinding work will be done at night, when traffic is slow, between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The project is expected to be completed during the week of July 19-23, only one week behind the original anticipated completion. Because of the extreme traffic, the project will be done in stages. It will undergo the following renovations:

·         Roadway Resurfacing

·         Replacement of Broken and Damaged Sidewalks

·         Traffic Signal Upgrades

·         Medians

·         Trees

·         Sidewalk Widening at Sunset Plaza

·         Pedestrian Enhancements

As stated to Canyon News by Project Coordinator Donn Uyeno, “One of the main goals of the project was to enhance the pedestrian experience on the Sunset Strip. I’ve already noticed an increase in people walking the strip. It only takes me about 30 minutes to walk the entire length of West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip each way, and it is a comfortable walk with a lot to see along the way. As for the future it will become a place where you can park your car, visit some shops, walk to a restaurant, and then see a band at one of the clubs, all because of the pedestrian friendly enhancements that were a part of the project.”

The estimated cost of the beautification project is $5.4 million. Some of the project’s funding will be obtained from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009.

When Canyon News asked about the problems that were faced during construction, Uyeno said, “Some of the challenges that we have encountered are related to the success of the Sunset Strip. From the construction standpoint, we did a lot of things out of sequence to accommodate the many special events on the Strip, and that did cause delays. We worked with the businesses on the numerous smaller events they had, but there were large events such as the Oscar after parties, about half a dozen film shoots, and the Los Angeles Marathon that we had to work around. The Los Angeles marathon was particularly challenging because we had to prepare for 20,000 runners and spectators coming through an active construction site. We also lost 11 working days of construction over the past six months, due to rain. Considering all of this, the fact we are only a few weeks off of our scheduled completion date is pretty good for a project of this size.”

For more information on the Sunset Beautification Project visit weho.org/sunsetprojector or contact Donn Uyeno, Project Manager, at 323-848-6375 or by e-mail at duyeno@weho.org.