On Memorial Day, Santa Monica Next Advisory Boardmember (and newly-appointed Santa Monica Housing Commissioner) Carter Rubin took a tour of the construction happening along Phase II of the Metro Expo Line. Fortunately for us, he chronicled his adventure on Twitter, complete with some awesome photographs.

Below are a few of the major locations Carter scouted on his trek, which began in the far-flung neighborhood of Palms. For the full story, follow him on Twitter: @CarterRubin.

As construction progresses on the Expo maintenance facility (at Olympic and Stewart St.), so too does construction on Buffer Park, the 2.35 acre public green space planned along the south side of the facility in order to (for lack of a better word) buffer the nearby neighborhood from noise. – JI

This station at 26th Street and Olympic will be the first stop westbound trains make in Santa Monica. It will serve the Bergamot Arts Center, several nearby office parks, and whatever eventually replaces the abandoned Papermate factory across the street. – JI

Like Carter said, this is the bridge over Olympic. -JI

The 17th Street station, the second of three stops in Santa Monica westbound trains will make, connects passengers to two nearby hospitals, Santa Monica College, and Memorial Park. Making sure that the train integrates smoothly with the surrounding area takes concerted planning, that’s why City officials have begun drafting the Memorial Park Neighborhood Plan. Tell your planners what you envision for the area’s future. – JI

Expo line trains will continue down the center of Colorado Avenue west of 17th Street where they will reach the end of the line at the 4th Street station, a few blocks from the Third Street Promenade, the Santa Monica Pier, Tongva Park, and, of course, the beach. Below are a few more of Carter’s pictures of Expo line construction outside of Santa Monica. – JI

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