After more than 40 years of waiting and over 11 years of construction, residents and businesses in L.A.’s Mid-Wilshire and Miracle Mile districts finally have their subway.
On May 8, the first phase of the Metro D Line extension – a 3.9-mile stretch under Wilshire Boulevard from Western Avenue to La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills – opened to considerable local fanfare.
The newly completed subway extension, with a budget of up to $3.7 billion, has three new stations: Wilshire/La Brea Avenue, Wilshire/Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire/La Cienega.
The Wilshire/La Brea station is close to the El Rey Theatre, while the Wilshire/Fairfax station is closest to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and its new David Geffen Galleries building, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum and the Petersen Automotive Museum.
The Wilshire/La Cienega station is near the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills and La Cienega Boulevard’s Restaurant Row, which includes the famous Lawry’s Restaurants Inc.’s Prime Rib eatery.
“It’s finally opened!” Fernando Dutra, board chair of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said at a news conference. “L.A. County residents are now connected from Downtown Los Angeles to Beverly Hills with three new beautiful underground stations making the trip through Mid-Wilshire to experience the culture, cuisine and commerce across diverse neighborhoods faster, easier and a lot more accessible.”
In keeping with the museum culture theme, all three new stations have large-scale artworks from a total of nine contemporary artists.
Next year’s opening of other segments
The construction team for the first segment consisted of three main contractors: Stockholm, Sweden-based Skanska, Evansville, Indiana-based Traylor Bros. and Walnut-based JF Shea Construction.
The segment is part of the 9-mile D Line extension that will eventually run all the way out through Westwood to the Veterans Administration property on the west side of the 405 Freeway.
The other two segments are being built by the joint venture contractor team of Sylmar-based Tutor Perini Corp. and Torrington, Connecticut-based O&G Industries. Their combined cost is now put at $6.2 billion. The second segment to Century City is now set to open in the first half of next year, while the third and final segment to Westwood is slated for completion by the end of next year.
Assuming the target dates are met, the entire subway extension should be open in time for the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. The UCLA campus in Westwood is slated to host the Athletes’ Village for the Games.
Plans for a subway under Wilshire Boulevard through the Mid-Wilshire and Miracle Mile districts were first drawn up in the early 1980s. However in 1985, the project was derailed after a huge methane gas explosion near the area raised severe safety concerns.
