Metro is on track to reopen a section of its D (Purple) Line Saturday with full rail service resuming between Union Station and Koreatown.
The transit agency implemented a temporary closure on May 17 to allow construction crews to complete critical connections as part of the D Line Extension Project. Following a 70-day pause, rail service is scheduled to resume starting Saturday at 4 a.m.
Riders will once again be able to ride Metro to the Wilshire/Vermont, Wilshire/Normandie and Wilshire/Western stations.
During the D Line closure, Metro offered shuttle buses while crews worked to connect all rail communication and power systems between the current subway line and the extensions.
“We know that these closures are inconvenient for our riders,” Metro Board Chair and Whittier Councilman Fernando Dutra said during Metro’s Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday.
“No one ever wants to close a part of our system, but in cases like these complicated projects, it’s a lot better to close the system in the short term and get everything done all at one rather than piecemeal it and extend it over a longer period of time,” he added.
Additionally, the agency’s Board of Directors unanimously approved a resolution for the necessity of acquiring an 18-month temporary construction easement.
The agency aims to acquire a 29,852-square-foot property at 1950 Century Park East, to be used as construction staging during the second phase of the D Line Extension project.
According to a report to the board, Metro will have to come to an agreement with the property owner, Automobile Club of Southern California, for the easement. An offer has been made, and the agency is waiting on a response.
Details of the offer were not disclosed.
The D Line Subway Extension is being constructed as three separate projects, which is expected to add nine miles of underground rail and create seven new stations.
Phase one of the project is expected to open in the fall, extending the D Line from the Wilshire/Western station in Koreatown through Miracle Mile. Three new stations will be constructed at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega.
The D Line will eventually extend through Century City, Beverly Hills and end near the VA campus in West Los Angeles.
The extension project is part of Metro’s Twenty-Eight by ’28 initiative to bolster public transportation ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.