Crenshaw Boulevard
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Crenshaw Boulevard is a principal east thoroughfare street in Los Angeles, California that runs through, and outside, Crenshaw, Los Angeles, California.[1]
Overview
The street starts at Wilshire Boulevard in Hancock Park and runs through several demographically diverse areas to end in Rolling Hills. In the early 1900's there were tracks for the 5 Line streetcar line[2] in the 1920s through 1950s ran down the median between Leimert Boulevard[3] on the north to near Florence Ave on the south. Since the abandonment of the streetcars, the former railway median has been narrowed, the driving lanes improved and the street reconfigured. Many local residents were disappointed to see 71 mature trees chopped down to make way for the Space Shuttle Endeavour to be moved from LAX to the California Science Center.
Revitalization
Additional trees were removed for the under construction Crenshaw/LAX Line, but various officials have promised an aesthetically cohesive new revitilized boulevard with more trees being planted than were removed. It will also feature bike lanes and wider sidewalks [4]
The street was named in 1904 for banker and Los Angeles real estate developer George Lafayette Crenshaw who also developed Lafayette Square.[5]
Transportation
Metro
Metro Local lines 40 and 210, Metro Rapid lines 710 and 740, and Torrance Transit line 10 serve Crenshaw Boulevard; Metro lines 210 and 710 run through the majority of Crenshaw Boulevard to Artesia Boulevard, Metro lines 40 and 740 from Crenshaw District to Hyde Park, and Torrance Transit line 10 south of Artesia Boulevard. The Metro Green Line serves the Crenshaw station on Crenshaw Boulevard underneath Interstate 105, while the Metro Expo Line runs along Exposition Blvd and serves Expo/Crenshaw station at the intersection with Exposition Boulevard.
In the Crenshaw district, Crenshaw Boulevard and Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza are served primarily by LADOT trolleys, buses and soon a light rail subway line with four Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus lines:
- Metro Local Line 40 - South Bay Galleria - Patsaouras Transit Plaza via Martin Luther King Boulevard and Hawthorne Boulevard
- Metro Local Line 210 - South Bay Galleria - Hollywood/Vine Red Line Station via Crenshaw Boulevard, Rossmore Avenue, and Vine Street
- Metro Rapid Line 710 - South Bay Galleria - Wilshire/Western Purple Line Station via Redondo Beach Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard
- Metro Rapid Line 740 - South Bay Galleria - Inglewood Transit Center - Expo/Crenshaw Station
Crenshaw Boulevard is also briefly served in the Crenshaw district by the following LACMTA lines:
- Metro Local Line 102 - LAX City Bus Center to Huntington Park via La Tijera Boulevard, Stocker Street, Exposition Boulevard and Jefferson Boulevard
- Metro Local Line 105 / Rapid Line 705 - West Hollywood - Vernon via La Cienega Boulevard, Rodeo Road, and Vernon Avenue
LADOT
Crenshaw Boulevard is also briefly served in the Crenshaw district by the following LADOT lines:
Transit expansion
The Crenshaw/LAX Line is currently under construction. It will transport passengers from the existing Expo/Crenshaw station to the planned Aviation/96th Street station and Metro Green line stations.[6] It is projected to be completed in early 2019.[citation needed]
Notable Landmarks
See also
References
- ^ Christopher Hawthorne, "Crenshaw Boulevard comes to a crossroads", Los Angeles Times, September 15, 2012.
- ^ Los Angeles Railway in Brief - Map of Streetcar Routes
- ^ 5 Line
- ^ Jennings, Angel "Tree removal along Crenshaw has residents stumped" Los Angeles Times, March 30, 2014
- ^ Parra, Alvaro "Crenshaw Boulevard: Cruising Through the Decades" KCET, October 23, 2014
- ^ "Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor (project website)". Metro (LACMTA). June 27, 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-11.