City of West Hollywood
Home MenuWorking to Bring Metro Rail to the City of West Hollywood
Overview
We’re working to bring the Metro K Line (formerly the Crenshaw/LAX Line) to Mid City, West Hollywood, and Hollywood. Imagine up to four stations in WeHo and connections to four other Metro lines. Where will it take you?
The City of West Hollywood has long supported increasing its transit options. The West Hollywood City Council, in December 2015, approved a plan to conduct outreach and to build regional partnerships in support of a Metro rail project that would extend the Metro K Line (formerly the Crenshaw/LAX Line) to West Hollywood and connect to the Metro Red Line. The proposed Northern Extension of the Metro K Line light rail transit line (K Line North) will provide critical north-south connections to, from, and through West Hollywood and enhance the existing Metro regional rail network.
This project fact sheet summarizes key project benefits from unprecedented ridership estimates and expanding access to jobs, healthcare, and major destinations to a fast and efficient alternative to traffic and congested bus routes that reduce the need for transit riders to travel out of their way to transfer. This briefing book summarizes the status of the project, key benefits, next steps, and key background information.
Metro released their Advanced Alternatives Screening Study in August 2020 summarizing additional outreach, technical analysis, and recommendations for three alternative routes to carry forward into the environmental analysis (the remaining alternative routes under consideration are shown in the map below). The Metro Board approved a $50 million contract for an environmental impact report (EIR) and advanced conceptual engineering at their August 27, 2020, Metro Board Meeting. In addition to analyzing potential project impacts and strategies to mitigate them, a key outcome of Metro's EIR will be to select a single locally preferred alternative route for further design, funding, and construction.
Metro EIR Scoping Results Show a Strong Community Preference for the Fairfax-San Vicente (Hybrid) Route
Source: Metro. The City's preferred alternative, the Fairfax-San Vicente (Hybrid) route, was the clear community favorite during Metro's scoping period where it received the overwhelming majority of supportive public comments.
Metro recently released an email summary of their findings from the scoping period for the K Line Northern Extension project on December 22, 2021. During the scoping period from April to May 2021, Metro received a total of 423 public comments. Of those, 201 comments were in support of the San Vicente-Fairfax route (more than triple the other two routes combined!) with an additional 5 supporting that route or Fairfax. For comparison, just 11 and 29 supported only the Fairfax or La Brea routes respectively. Overall, the comments showed an overwhelming amount of support for the San Vicente-Fairfax route.
Some of the other general themes from comments during Metro’s Scoping Review Period include:
- Support for accelerating a project seen as overdue, realizing the environmental and mobility benefits of getting cars off the road sooner, and full grade separation of future rail service from street level
- Some were concerned with traffic impacts from construction and the project cost
- Some commenters noted the faster end to end travel times on the La Brea route while others cited the importance of the increased access to jobs and opportunity from all the additional destinations in between that would be served by the San Vicente-Fairfax route. Think Cedars-Sinai (#4 employer in LA County), the Grove, soon to be redeveloped CBS studios, the PDC, and West Hollywood
You can find Metro’s original December 22, 2021 e-blast in PDF format under “Documents” on Metros project website (metro.net/projects/crenshaw-northern-extension).
Why the City Supports the Fairfax-San Vicente Hybrid Alignment
Of the three routes under consideration (La Brea, Fairfax, and the Fairfax-San Vicente Hybrid), the City of West Hollywood supports the Fairfax-San Vicente Hybrid alignment (the Hybrid) that would serve more West Hollywood residents and businesses as well as more of the key regional destinations and job centers in nearby areas of Los Angeles. Since the previous San Vicente alternative was eliminated, the Fairfax-San Vicente Hybrid alignment has been the City’s preference as the other routes under consideration would not serve large portions of the City. (Note: all alternatives are expected to be fully underground North of Wilshire Boulevard, so no surface or aerial rail is under consideration in WeHo).
The Hybrid alignment would serve more of the City of West Hollywood and surrounding communities in Central Los Angeles, it would expand access to all of the major destinations and job centers in our area, and it would give us the best chance of uniting the region around a single locally preferred alignment and generating funding to accelerate the project. The Hybrid alignment would expand access to LACMA, Museum Row, the Grove, the Original Farmers Market, the CBS Television City Site (slated for redevelopment), the Beverly Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, WeHo entertainment and nightlife venues, the Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood Park, and a range of underserved communities and job centers along the way. The La Brea alignment would bypass all that on the way to Hollywood. Metro has made this mistake before. Remember when they built the Green Line almost to LAX? We’re still waiting to undo that mistake decades and billions of dollars later. We can’t afford to miss this opportunity for Metro to take people where they really want to go.
If Metro picks the Fairfax-San Vicente Hybrid alignment, K Line North would directly serve virtually all the major destinations in Mid City Los Angeles and West Hollywood coming within walking distance of three times as many jobs and six times as many residents as the La Brea alignment. The Hybrid alignment would be longer and include more new stations, but it would still serve many more jobs per station and per mile.
A Figure from Metro’s Advanced Alternatives Screening Study illustrating the differences in jobs and population in walking distance to stations by alignment.
If Metro picks the Fairfax alignment, some of the additional connectivity and job centers along Fairfax Avenue would be served, but key destinations like Cedars-Sinai (the 6th largest employer in the County), the Beverly Center, and most of WeHo would still be left out.
If Metro picks the La Brea alignment, none of the destinations above would be served and the only station in WeHo would be along the eastern edge of the City at Santa Monica/La Brea, far from the main activity centers in the area. the only other new station between the Purple (D) and Red (B) Lines would be at La Brea/Beverly where adjacent businesses aren’t very transit-supportive (two gas stations, a rental car lot, and a single-story strip mall). The project might be less expensive and a few minutes faster from end-to-end, but at the expense of service to many of the major destinations and job centers in this area.
What about travel time?
You might hear that the longer Hybrid route increases travel time from end to end but let’s put that in perspective. Selecting Fairfax rather than La Brea would add 3 minutes to an end-to-end trip. Selecting the Hybrid would add another 4-5 minutes. Even with those few extra minutes, K Line North will still be significantly faster than driving and much faster than existing buses stuck in traffic. Factor in the time it takes to find parking in WeHo and Central Los Angeles and there’s just no comparison. Imagine a trip from Hollywood to Cedars-Sinai. By car you might do that in 14-35 minutes depending on traffic plus however long it takes you to find parking. On existing buses that’s more like 30-45 minutes. With K Line North and the Hybrid alignment? 8 minutes. Every time. Even on a Friday at 5:00 pm.
It’s not just about regional trips!
For transit to be competitive in our region it needs to serve more than just long regional trips and commutes to and from work (though the Hybrid would make those faster and easier too!). The additional stations included in the Hybrid alignment would allow for all kinds of mid-day, weekend, and local trips within this area for errands or leisure. Imagine getting from the heart of West Hollywood to La Brea in just 4 minutes, to Hollywood in 6 minutes, or to the Grove in 4 minutes. With event venues like the Hollywood Bowl, tourist hot spots like the Grove and LACMA, and nightlife hotspots like West Hollywood’s Entertainment District and the Sunset Strip, there’s a whole new category of tourism and late-night trips that could be served by transit if we choose the Hybrid alignment. None of these off-peak trips are captured well in Metro’s ridership modeling so we can expect the Hybrid alignment to exceed current ridership estimates.
Why not build two lines?
You might hear the argument that West Hollywood or Santa Monica Blvd. should be a separate line or spur rather than part of K Line North. While that might make sense in a world with unlimited funding and political will for transit, that’s not realistic in the environment we live in. Measure M (the ½ cent sales tax funding our region’s transit expansion) has projects waiting in line for funding into the 2060’s and 2070’s and any attempt to add new projects in this area before then would be met with stiff opposition from the rest of the region which already eyes the various projects built and/or in development in the Westside and Central LA with suspicion. Even if it could be funded, a spur would be inefficient to operate and unlikely to be extended West due to seismic faults. Add to that the fact that K Line North itself was originally scheduled for 2047 and is only moving forward now because of efforts to find additional local funds led by the City of West Hollywood. It's difficult to imagine the City contributing significant resources towards the project if the La Brea alignment is selected because it would mean a single station on the edge of the City at considerable expense. Joint development of Metro’s Division 7 bus yard site at San Vicente/Santa Monica is another potential funding source, but there's less of a nexus for pursuing that if the La Brea alignment is selected as the nearest station would be over two miles away until a hypothetical second line could be built several decades later.
The choice here isn’t between one line or two. It’s between a slightly longer and more expensive route that would hit all the major destinations and job centers in Mid City and WeHo that we could fund and build in our lifetime and the possibility of nothing until 2047 (or later) and maybe another line decades after that.
Let’s get it right the first time. Let’s pick the Hybrid. And let’s #FinishTheLine!
Let Metro know if you agree!
Click here to let Metro know you support the San Vicente-Fairfax Hybrid alignment! (Feel free to customize the email with your own reasons)!
Explore Proposed Stations for West Hollywood & Find Out More
In December 2021, the City of West Hollywood launched a new website for the project where community members can find out more about the four proposed station areas in the City, what's nearby, where you could get from each with future Metro rail service, and how much time you might save as well as other information on key project benefits and the proposed funding plan. The site also provides a great introduction to the project and includes links to sign up for email updates or let Metro know what you think. Check it out at www.weho.org/metro.
Next Steps
As Metro continues their environmental analysis, the City of West Hollywood will continue ongoing community and regional outreach and transition into Phase II of the City's Funding and Project Delivery Strategy Study refining potential financial strategies to accelerate the project in accordance with Metro policy. The City is also conducting a separate rail integration study to provide timely input during Metro's EIR and ensure that future Metro rail service is integrated thoughtfully into the West Hollywood Community. For more details on the Funding Study, scroll to the "Funding and Project Delivery Strategy Study" section towards the end of this page.
Upcoming Events
Metro June 2022 Community Meetings and Ongoing Online Public Comment Tools
After two virtual community meetings in Mid June 2022, Metro is still collecting public feedback online on the K Line Northern Extension rail project, the project that will bring new Metro rail service to Mid City, West Hollywood, and Hollywood. Depending on the route selected, the line could serve or bypass all the major destinations and job centers in Mid City and WeHo on the way to Hollywood. Similarly, WeHo could be served by just one station at the eastern edge of the City, or as many as four underground rail stations.
The City of West Hollywood encourages all community members and stakeholders to submit written comments as feedback from the community will be a factor in Metro decisions about the final route the project will take and how much of West Hollywood and Central Los Angeles is served by future rail service. Recordings and materials from the June 2022 Metro Community Meetings are available below.
Metro June 2022 Community Meetings Materials & Recordings
- Meeting Slides link
- June 16, 2022 Meeting Recording link
- June 21, 2022 Meeting Recording link
How to Submit Written Comments Online
- Email general written comments to Metro at crenshawnorth@metro.net.
- Provide detailed feedback on any of the proposed stations, like important destinations, suggestions for entrance locations, and considerations nearby, through Metro's online Storymap tool and fill out the survey on the station(s) you're interested in.
Check back for additional updates or sign up for the email list at: http://www.whamrail.com/support/
Metro is currently conducting environmental analysis and engineering necessary to select the final route and get the project shovel-ready for construction. Though Metro's scoping period is now behind us, you can still reach out to them with comments or questions.
Email Metro directly at crenshawnorth@metro.net or call Metro's project hotline at 213.418.3093.
