As the railway expansion project under Wilshire Boulevard continues, Metro Line D (also known as the purple line) will be closed for 70 days soon.
Services on this route will be available from Union Station to all stops in Wilhill/West from May 17 to July 25. Line B services (from Union Station to Wilhelm/Vermont stock stops) will be added from North Hollywood to downtown to accommodate riders.
Shuttle service will be provided for the last stop of the line to connect riders to Koreatown, from Wilshire/Vermont to Wilshire/Normandie and Wilshire/Western Stations.
The $2.4 billion project aims to add seven radio stations and expand services on Hancock Park, Beverly Hills, Westwood and West La, breaking ground more than a decade ago. This faces delays in security issues and has been overturned by some West End residents.
Metro aims to complete the program at the 2028 Olympics, but the hundreds of millions of dollars the federal government promised to commit to the program has not yet been realized. Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who recently visited the railway project, also warned that tariffs that affect the cost of materials could create new obstacles to infrastructure projects.
The current route is one of the most widely used routes in the subway. Metro's B and D lines have more than 1.8 million passengers.
The first phase of the expansion under Wilshire Boulevard will include three sites – Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega. It is expected to open by the end of 2025.
According to Metro, the section is complete. The tracks have been laid and lighting has been installed. The transport agency will next connect the communications and power systems between the existing lines and the new section during the upcoming service interruption.
The next phase of the project will include Wilshire/Robo and Century City/Constellation Station, which is expected to open in 2026. The final part of the Westwood/UCLA and Westwood/VA Hospital Station is scheduled to open in 2027.
