For more than a decade, Wilshire Boulevard and Century City have been one giant construction zone as construction has proceeded on the Metro D Line Extension subway project.
Originally planned as the “subway to the sea,” the more than 9-mile subway extension will take the current D Line from its current terminus at Wilshire Boulevard/Western Avenue in Koreatown to the Veterans Administration property on Wilshire just west of the 405 Freeway. It will include seven new stations and has a total projected cost of $10.1 billion.
Museum Row link
The first 3.9-mile section, from Wilshire/Western to Wilshire/La Cienega in Beverly Hills, is set to open in the second half of next year, according to Metro spokesman Dave Sotero. It will also include stations at Wilshire/La Brea Avenue and at Wilshire/Fairfax Avenue.
That Wilshire/Fairfax station will be in the heart of Museum Row, including the Petersen Automotive Museum, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art/La Brea Tar Pits complex.
The construction team for this section is led by Stockholm, Sweden-based Skanska, Evansville, Indiana-based Traylor Bros. and Walnut-based J.F. Shea Construction.
The projected cost for this section is $3.73 billion.
Beverly Hills Golden Triangle stop
The second section, about 2.6 miles long, includes stations at Wilshire/Rodeo and at Avenue of the Stars/Constellation Avenue in Century City. It is now slated to open sometime in 2026.
This segment is being built by a team led by Sylmar-based civil construction firm Tutor Perini Corp. and Torrington, Connecticut-based O&G Industries Inc. The projected cost for this segment is $2.67 billion.
The Wilshire/Rodeo station lies at the base of the famed Beverly Hills Golden Triangle shopping district. When rail was first proposed along Wilshire through Beverly Hills some 45 years ago, some merchants and residents were against a stop there; while they rarely stated this publicly, they were said to be fearful that “other elements” from other parts of the city could disrupt the area’s luxury atmosphere.
In more recent decades, however, that view has flipped 180 degrees and merchants now want to see construction wrapped up as soon as possible so international tourists can use the rail link and plunk down their thousands of dollars in spending on luxury items at stores on and near Rodeo Drive and eat at high-end restaurants like Spago on Canon Drive.
Meanwhile, Century City has long sought a rail connection, not least because the powerful attorneys at dozens of law firms based there will soon have a quick and easy trip to the courtrooms in Downtown Los Angeles. The station is also just steps away from the high-end Westfield Century City shopping center.
Westwood/UCLA stop
The Tutor Perini/O&G Industries team is also well under way with construction on the third and final section of the Metro D Line Extension. This 2.5-mile stretch also has two new stations: one at Wilshire/Westwood Boulevard and the other on Wilshire next to the VA Hospital on the Veterans Administration Westside campus.
The Wilshire/Westwood station is near Westwood Medical Center, the Hammer Museum and the stores and eateries in Westwood Village. It is also billed as the UCLA station, though it lies more than a mile south of most of the UCLA campus. UCLA does run a shuttle service that includes stops in Westwood Village and one stop on Wilshire west of the station.
The projected cost for this final section is $3.67 billion.
*Subway stops mentioned above are the names of the nearest major cross streets, not the official names of the stops, some of which have not yet been finalized.
