Busted Deadline, Busted Budget, And A Bust

Many commuters in West LA are more than ready to heave a sigh of relief as the last of the orange cones begin to disappear from the $90-million Santa Monica Boulevard Transit Parkway Project.

Not only did this project bust its budget by more than $20 million, it also busted deadline by a year.

And now, there's a bust to watch over it.

This afternoon I spotted the curious bust pictured at right, along with some other works of art on the new lampposts along Santa Monica Boulevard west of Beverly Glen Boulevard.

A Sept. 27, 2006, press release from the LA City Department of Public Works implies that she and other works are part of the art that will cap off the project. According to the release:

As roadway construction nears completion of the Santa Monica Boulevard Transit Parkway Project, crews are preparing to install project art work. Artistic medallions designed to showcase state themes along historic Route 66 will hang from steetlighting fixtures on Santa Monica Blvd. A pair of ruby red shoes will symbolize Kansas, while a likeness of Abraham Lincoln will represent Illinois.

I don't know who she's supposed to represent, though I'm sure I'll regret writing that when someone informs me of the person in whose likeness this was cast. In the meantime, if I may be so bold as to embellish a line from the 1996 film Swingers: She's so money, and she doesn't even know it.

— TJ Sullivan in LA