March 31, 2025 The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

Purple Line Subway Extension Gets $100 Million

Purple Line
The Purple Line’s Westside Extension project received $100 million in federal funds to add more rail from Wilshire/Western to the VA Hospital in Westwood. (Thinkstock/Getty Images)

The federal government has committed to spending a lot of green for the color purple, as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced March 14 a budget proposed by President Barack Obama includes $100 million in funding for the Purple Line Westside Subway Extension.

Another $100 million in federal funding was committed to the Downtown Regional Connector.

Included in Obama’s 2014-15 Fiscal Year budget, the funding is expected to help Los Angeles Metro extend the Purple Line from its current terminus at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue to Wilshire and La Cienega Boulevards in Beverly Hills.

The Purple Line is expected to ultimately stop in Westwood.

“Especially in these tough economic times, you have to prove to Washington that you’re going to deliver real results,” Garcetti stated. “This funding represents the White House’s recognition that our transit program will spend money wisely, create thousands of jobs, and make a real difference for L.A. commuters.”

As currently proposed, the Westside Subway Extension project would add 3.9 miles of rail to the Purple Line, which currently only has two stations in the Koreatown area exclusive to its route. The remainder of the Purple Line shares stations with the Red Line between the Vermont/Wilshire stop and Union Station.

According to Metro officials, the Westside Subway Extension project would produce 25,000 jobs.

The Purple Line would mostly travel under Wilshire Boulevard through the Miracle Mile and into Beverly Hills. Once in Beverly Hills, the Purple Line route is expected to meander away from Wilshire Boulevard and into Century City before terminating in Westwood.

The Century City station was subject to some opposition from Beverly Hills’ civic leaders and residents. According to the proposed route, the subway would pass under Beverly Hills High School just shy of the Century City station. The Beverly Hills City Council conditionally gave its support to the Purple Line extension, stipulating Metro not build the subway under the high school.

City officials reportedly contended any tunneling under the high school would be dangerous, which Metro officials disputed.

In all, Metro plans to add seven more stations to the Purple Line, three of which are included in the Westside Subway Extension. Those three stations are Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, and Wilshire/La Cienega and might be operational by 2023.

After the Westside Subway Extension completes the 3.9-mile route from Wilshire/Western to Wilshire/La Cienega, Metro plans the build the next phase along a 2.6-mile stretch to bring Wilshire/Rodeo and Century City online by 2026.

The final 2.9-mile phase would take the Purple Line into its final two stops in Westwood, including one near UCLA and another at the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital.

Metro anticipates the Purple Line will be fully operating from Union Station to Westwood in 2035.

According to news reports, Metro would be receiving additional funding to help complete the rest of the line, including Wilshire/Rodeo, Century City, Westwood/UCLA, and the terminus at Westwood/VA Hospital.

In addition to announcing the $200 million in federal funds for two rail projects, Garcetti also asked Congress to work on passing a federal surface transportation bill.

Last week’s announcement came shortly after Los Angeles was awarded $670 million from the Federal New Starts Full Funding Agreement Grant for the Downtown Regional Connector.

Once built, the Downtown Regional Connector would make it easier for train riders to navigate central Los Angeles with minimal transfers.

For example, a rider who wants to go from Long Beach to Pasadena must first take the Blue Line to the Seventh Street station in Downtown Los Angeles, then take either the Purple or Red Line east to Union Station before transferring to the Gold Line. The Downtown Regional Connector would eliminate help the rider from Long Beach directly connect to the Gold Line from the Blue Line.

According to Metro, the Downtown Regional Connector would bring together “the city’s various rail lines to make transfers convenient, dramatically improving the rider experience.”

The Downtown Regional Connector is scheduled to be completed by 2020, according to public transit officials.

Metro added the $200 million proposed by Obama comes from the federal New Starts program. The initiative “helps local transit agencies pay for expensive transit projects,” Metro stated.

Related Posts

Judge to L.A. Leaders: ‘I Am Your Worst Nightmare’ in Scathing Homeless Spending Rebuke

March 28, 2025

March 28, 2025

Carter Warns of Court Intervention if City and County Fail to Fix Broken Systems U.S. District Judge David O. Carter,...

Mayor Karen Bass Texts Sent During the Palisades Fire Have Been Released

March 28, 2025

March 28, 2025

Newly Recovered Texts Were Recovered After Sharp Criticism Over Deletions As wildfires swept through Los Angeles in early January, Mayor...

Serial Fraudster Swindled $18M From Investors in Fake Hemp Ventures

March 28, 2025

March 28, 2025

Feds Seize Ferrari, Real Estate as Judge Jails Beverly Hills ‘Con Man’ Mark Roy Anderson, 70, of Beverly Hills, was...

Music Mogul Convicted, West Hollywood Co-Defendant Heads to Trial

March 28, 2025

March 28, 2025

West Hollywood Talent Executive Awaits Trial in Multi-Count Kingpin Act ​A federal jury has convicted José Ángel Del Villar, 44,...

Culver City Police Nab Eight in Overnight Burglary, Series of Drug Arrests

March 28, 2025

March 28, 2025

Two Arrested for Burglary, Six More Booked for Narcotics  Culver City Police made a series of arrests in the last...

LAPD Sets Weekend DUI Checkpoints and Saturation Patrols Across West Los Angeles

March 28, 2025

March 28, 2025

Checkpoints Begin Friday, March 28; Patrols to Follow Throughout the Weekend Officials announced that the Los Angeles Police Department will...

Film Review: A Working Man

March 27, 2025

March 27, 2025

By Dolores Quintana A Working Man is the second collaboration between director David Ayer and actor Jason Statham, in which...

Cocktail Season Arrives in Brentwood While Beverly Hills Hosts Wine Dinner Affair

March 27, 2025

March 27, 2025

Bar Toscana Unveils Spring Cocktails as Nerano Prepares Wine-Paired Feast Bar Toscana is welcoming spring with a lineup of vibrant...

Exclusive Omakase Experience Comes to Beverly Hills for Four Weeks Only

March 27, 2025

March 27, 2025

Dine Under the Stars: Chef Wei Chen’s Omawei Takes Over The Belvedere Acclaimed chef Wei Chen is set to debut...

Culver City Gets a Taste of Italy with Bernie’s All-Natural Shaved Ice Pop-Up

March 27, 2025

March 27, 2025

Toasted Meringue Meets Farm-Fresh Granita at Citizen Market  A sweet new addition has arrived just in time for spring at...

Osteria Mamma Rings in 15 Years with New Chef and Tasting Events

March 27, 2025

March 27, 2025

From Pasta to Pinot: Osteria Mamma Kicks Off Anniversary with Flavor Osteria Mamma, a longtime favorite in Larchmont Village, is...

Green Beans and Beef Sticks Recalled in California Over Contamination Risks

March 27, 2025

March 27, 2025

Officials Warn Consumers to Discard or Return Affected Products The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that Del Monte Foods...

Duke’s Malibu Sends Message of Aloha After Mudslide Closure

March 26, 2025

March 26, 2025

We’ll Be Back: Reopening After Natural Disaster Planned Duke’s Malibu, a popular beachfront restaurant on the Pacific Coast Highway, has...

End of an Era: Garcelle Beauvais Announces Departure From RHOBH

March 26, 2025

March 26, 2025

Goodbye, Beverly Hills! Garcelle Beauvais Confirms RHOBH Departure Actress, producer, and star of the famed Beverly Hills-based reality show Garcelle...

‘Cell Phone Theft Capital’? West Hollywood Struggles with Pickpocketing Spike

March 26, 2025

March 26, 2025

Pickpocketing Surges in West Hollywood’s Rainbow District The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Department has reported a sharp increase in pickpocket thefts...