Angeli Lands in Little Tokyo

“Angeli,” a tunnel boring machine (TBM), is lowered into the Regional Connector construction site in Little Tokyo. (MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo)

She weighs 950 tons, is 21.5 feet in diameter and capable of moving at a respectable 60 feet per day. Her name, selected from suggestions submitted by local middle school and high school students, is Angeli, a variation on “Los Angeles.”

On Oct. 19, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) introduced the tunnel boring machine (TBM) that will create an underground pathway through (and underneath) Little Tokyo to Second Street and Broadway and then on to Second and Hope streets.

When completed, the Regional Connector will enable riders to travel from Azusa to Long Beach on a single ticket or go from Santa Monica to East L.A.