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D Line Extension
The D Line Subway Extension (formerly known as the Westside Subway Extension, the Subway to the Sea, and the Purple Line Extension) is a construction project in Los Angeles County, California, extending the rapid transit D Line (formerly the Purple Line) of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system from its current terminus at Wilshire/Western in Koreatown, Los Angeles, to the Westside region. The project is being supervised by Los Angeles Metro. The subway has been given high priority by Metro in its long-range plans, and funding for the project was included in two county sales tax measures, Measure R and Measure M.
The project's draft environmental impact statement was completed in September 2010, and a locally preferred alternative was selected in October 2010. Metro released the D Line (then the Purple Line) Extension's final environmental impact report in 2012. The entire project was approved at the Metro Board of Directors meeting on April 26, 2012, and construction has been separated into three sections.
This project's first, second, and third sections are under construction. Combined, these three sections will add nearly 9 miles (14 km) of heavy rail service to the cities of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. Construction on Section 1, between the existing Wilshire/Western station and the planned Wilshire/La Cienega station, started on November 11, 2014. Section 2 pre-construction work between Wilshire/La Cienega station and Century City station began in April 2017, and the official Section 2 groundbreaking ceremony took place on February 23, 2018. Section 3 advanced utility relocation pre-groundbreaking work began in February 2018 for the future Westwood/UCLA and Westwood/VA Hospital stations. The Section 3 groundbreaking ceremony took place on May 24, 2021. Tunneling for the project was completed on April 2, 2024.
A fourth section has long been discussed, which would extend the D Line from the Westwood/VA Hospital station 3.5 miles under Wilshire Boulevard to Santa Monica beach, terminating at or near the E Line or future Lincoln Boulevard Transit Corridor terminus.
Currently, the line is planned to run between Wilshire/Western and Westwood/VA Hospital, with tail tracks that could allow for future expansion farther west. The following new subway stations will be built:
Early transit planners recognized the importance of Wilshire Boulevard as a spine and key boulevard in Los Angeles. Early plans for regional Metro Rail envisioned a rapid-transit route between Downtown and the Westside, with a branch going north on Fairfax to Hollywood and into the San Fernando Valley. In 1961, the "New Proposed Backbone Route Plan" described a subway along Wilshire Boulevard from Westwood to Downtown (and then elevated to El Monte). This project was never funded. Ballot initiatives in 1968 and 1974 to build a subway to West Los Angeles were rejected by voters, but in 1980 voters passed Proposition A, which created a half-cent county sales tax to fund rail construction. Ultimately, the Southern California Rapid Transit District (SCRTD), one of Metro's predecessors, planned a subway that would extend from Downtown Los Angeles to Fairfax Avenue, then north on Fairfax to Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley. Due to the "methane zone" (see below) that plan was modified, and Vermont Avenue was chosen for the north–south route instead of Fairfax.
Several factors led to the eventual halt of plans to extend the subway west along Wilshire Boulevard. For decades, the route was mired in political and socioeconomic debate, with politicians giving vent to anti-subway sentiments and NIMBY isolationism. The City of Beverly Hills also opposed the subway, as did two critical legislators from the area: Congressman Henry Waxman and Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky.
Following a methane explosion in 1985 at a Ross Dress for Less clothing store near Fairfax and Third Street, Congressman Waxman worked to legally designate a large part of Mid-Wilshire as a "methane zone." This zone stretched on either side of Wilshire Boulevard from Hancock Park to the west of Fairfax (through areas of his district where subway opposition was strongest). Waxman was able to pass federal legislation banning all tunneling through this zone. Subsequently, any plans for a subway west of Western Avenue diverted the line south around the methane zone, using Crenshaw, Pico, and San Vicente Boulevards. These plans never came to fruition, and to qualify for federal funding, the SCRTD started anew and rerouted the subway north on Vermont Avenue, then traveled west under Hollywood Boulevard and then north toward the Valley. The Red Line was completed in 2000.
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D Line Extension
The D Line Subway Extension (formerly known as the Westside Subway Extension, the Subway to the Sea, and the Purple Line Extension) is a construction project in Los Angeles County, California, extending the rapid transit D Line (formerly the Purple Line) of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system from its current terminus at Wilshire/Western in Koreatown, Los Angeles, to the Westside region. The project is being supervised by Los Angeles Metro. The subway has been given high priority by Metro in its long-range plans, and funding for the project was included in two county sales tax measures, Measure R and Measure M.
The project's draft environmental impact statement was completed in September 2010, and a locally preferred alternative was selected in October 2010. Metro released the D Line (then the Purple Line) Extension's final environmental impact report in 2012. The entire project was approved at the Metro Board of Directors meeting on April 26, 2012, and construction has been separated into three sections.
This project's first, second, and third sections are under construction. Combined, these three sections will add nearly 9 miles (14 km) of heavy rail service to the cities of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. Construction on Section 1, between the existing Wilshire/Western station and the planned Wilshire/La Cienega station, started on November 11, 2014. Section 2 pre-construction work between Wilshire/La Cienega station and Century City station began in April 2017, and the official Section 2 groundbreaking ceremony took place on February 23, 2018. Section 3 advanced utility relocation pre-groundbreaking work began in February 2018 for the future Westwood/UCLA and Westwood/VA Hospital stations. The Section 3 groundbreaking ceremony took place on May 24, 2021. Tunneling for the project was completed on April 2, 2024.
A fourth section has long been discussed, which would extend the D Line from the Westwood/VA Hospital station 3.5 miles under Wilshire Boulevard to Santa Monica beach, terminating at or near the E Line or future Lincoln Boulevard Transit Corridor terminus.
Currently, the line is planned to run between Wilshire/Western and Westwood/VA Hospital, with tail tracks that could allow for future expansion farther west. The following new subway stations will be built:
Early transit planners recognized the importance of Wilshire Boulevard as a spine and key boulevard in Los Angeles. Early plans for regional Metro Rail envisioned a rapid-transit route between Downtown and the Westside, with a branch going north on Fairfax to Hollywood and into the San Fernando Valley. In 1961, the "New Proposed Backbone Route Plan" described a subway along Wilshire Boulevard from Westwood to Downtown (and then elevated to El Monte). This project was never funded. Ballot initiatives in 1968 and 1974 to build a subway to West Los Angeles were rejected by voters, but in 1980 voters passed Proposition A, which created a half-cent county sales tax to fund rail construction. Ultimately, the Southern California Rapid Transit District (SCRTD), one of Metro's predecessors, planned a subway that would extend from Downtown Los Angeles to Fairfax Avenue, then north on Fairfax to Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley. Due to the "methane zone" (see below) that plan was modified, and Vermont Avenue was chosen for the north–south route instead of Fairfax.
Several factors led to the eventual halt of plans to extend the subway west along Wilshire Boulevard. For decades, the route was mired in political and socioeconomic debate, with politicians giving vent to anti-subway sentiments and NIMBY isolationism. The City of Beverly Hills also opposed the subway, as did two critical legislators from the area: Congressman Henry Waxman and Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky.
Following a methane explosion in 1985 at a Ross Dress for Less clothing store near Fairfax and Third Street, Congressman Waxman worked to legally designate a large part of Mid-Wilshire as a "methane zone." This zone stretched on either side of Wilshire Boulevard from Hancock Park to the west of Fairfax (through areas of his district where subway opposition was strongest). Waxman was able to pass federal legislation banning all tunneling through this zone. Subsequently, any plans for a subway west of Western Avenue diverted the line south around the methane zone, using Crenshaw, Pico, and San Vicente Boulevards. These plans never came to fruition, and to qualify for federal funding, the SCRTD started anew and rerouted the subway north on Vermont Avenue, then traveled west under Hollywood Boulevard and then north toward the Valley. The Red Line was completed in 2000.