Five years and nine miles later, Tuesday Metro celebrated the completion of tunneling for the D Line Subway Extension Project. It’s fitting to mark this important milestone that will eventually connect Downtown LA with the city’s Westside during Earth Month.
“Today we celebrate another milestone in our efforts to build our world-class transportation system and improve access throughout Los Angeles,” said Mayor Karen Bass and Metro Board Chair. “To build this subway workers dug nine miles of parallel tunnels 70 feet underground through complex conditions within some of LA’s most densely urbanized neighborhoods and beneath some of our region’s most challenging geologic conditions including tar sands and methane gas.”
Bass described the transformative impact the subway will have on the city.
“Think of what it means for veterans living downtown who need to come to the Westside for services and benefits. And think about what it means for out-of-state UCLA students looking to get out of Westwood to see what the city really has to offer,” said Mayor Bass. “We are talking about transformative change that will change our city forever, just in time for the world to come for the Olympics in 2028!”
“The D Line got its start decades ago,” said Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. “In the 1960s a proposed “backbone” route plan described a subway along Wilshire Blvd from Westwood to Downtown. Funding efforts were halted in the 60s and 70s. And, in the 1980s, plans to bring rail to the Wilshire corridor were halted after a methane explosion in the Fairfax District raised concerns about tunning in the area. This led elected leaders to impose a ban on federal funding for construction that was lifted 20 years later when they were able to see that tunneling could be done safely with technological improvements.”
Horvath said the project, more than any other civic project, is a product of “generations of forward thinking and a testament to the commitment of Angelenos to build a connected, convenient, and safe transit system for our region.”
When all three sections and all seven stations are completed Horvath said Metro expects to serve 53,000 passengers a day. She spoke of the system-wide connectivity they are building in addition to the subway lines.
“Let’s finish the line!” she concluded.
In the next phase of construction, Metro and their contractors will complete work on the seven underground stations in three sections of the line: Section 1 between Wilshire/Western and Wilshire/LaCienega, Section 2 between Wilshire La Cienega and Century City, and Section 3 between Century City and Westwood. Forecasted openings are 2025 for Section 1, 2026 for Section 2, and 2027 for Section 3.
