Little Tokyo/Arts District station
Little Tokyo/Arts District is an at-grade light rail station in the Metro Rail system. It is located at the intersection of First and Alameda Streets, on the edge of Little Tokyo and the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles. The station is served by the Gold Line.[1] It opened in 2009 as part of the Gold Line Eastside Extension.
Little Tokyo/Arts District  | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | 200 N Alameda St, Los Angeles | |||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34.0498°N 118.2380°W | |||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Metro | |||||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | Gold Line | |||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 center platform | |||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Construction | ||||||||||||||||||
| Parking | none | |||||||||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | 12 bike rack spaces 4 lockers | |||||||||||||||||
| Disabled access | Yes | |||||||||||||||||
| Other information | ||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Open, being relocated | |||||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | November 15, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | Mid 2022 (projected) | |||||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Metro Rail service
Gold Line service hours are approximately from 5:00 AM until 12:15 AM daily.[2]
Location
Little Tokyo/Arts District station is located on the border of two neighborhoods, Little Tokyo to the west and the Arts District to the east. A number of educational attractions are near the station, with the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Japanese American National Museum, and the Geffen Contemporary branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art.[3]
This area was once a key area for trains in downtown. James M. Davies, for whom the large tract was named, subdivided the area in 1891. Several railroad lines from different companies connected through this site. Davies great-nephew, Robert Davies Volk, was the owner of the lots at First and Alameda streets with brick buildings shaped to fit the long-gone rail lines.[4] The structures had played an important role in the cultural life of the Little Tokyo neighborhood for decades before the site was cleared for the future station.[5]
Station layout
| Platform | Southbound | ← |
| Island platform, doors will open on the left | ||
| Northbound | → | |
There is one island platform and two tracks at Little Tokyo/Arts District station located on the east side of Alameda Street between East 1st Street and East Temple Street. South of the station, the tracks curve to the east onto the middle of East 1st Street, which it follows all the way to Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles.
Future station
The current Little Tokyo/Arts District station will be shut down and replaced by an underground station, located on the other side of Alameda with entrances 500 feet (152 meters) south of the existing station, being built as part of the Regional Connector project. The new station was originally referred to as 1st St/Central in planning documents, but was ultimately assigned the same name as the existing station.[6] The Regional Connector will be a light rail tunnel through Downtown Los Angeles that will connect the current Metro Rail Blue, Expo, and Gold Lines. Under current plans, the station will be served by both the restructured Blue Line, connecting Long Beach and the San Gabriel Valley, and the restructured Gold Line, connecting Santa Monica and East Los Angeles. The Regional Connector is scheduled to open in 2022.[7] The decision to rebuild the station underground was driven in part by traffic concerns on Alameda and 1st Street caused by at-grade trains.[8]
Preliminary work required the demolition of two modest, one-story brick building stores with one of the structures dating back at least to 1898.[5] The above-ground station was briefly closed due to the relocation of tracks for the Regional Connector project in early 2016.[9]
Bus connections
The following bus routes stop at Little Tokyo/Arts District:
| Class | Route | Western/southern terminus | Eastern/northern terminus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local | 30/330 | Mid-City Pico-Rimpau Transit Center (shortline) via Pico Boulevard West Hollywood Sunset Boulevard and San Vicente Boulevard via San Vicente Boulevard | Little Tokyo/Arts District eastern terminus (Line 330 and Line 30 shortline) East Los Angeles Indiana Gold Line Station via 1st Street (Line 30 only) |
| Local | 40 | Redondo Beach South Bay Galleria via Hawthorne Boulevard, Crenshaw Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard | Union Station |
The station is also served by several LADOT DASH Buses
References
- "Gold Line station information".
- "Gold Line timetable" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-05-10.
- Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension destination map LACMTA Retrieved 2009-10-12
- Fischer, Greg (August 26, 2014). "Tracking Some Early Train History: Upcoming Regional Connector Station Site Played a Key Role in L.A.'s Early Transportation Scene". Los Angeles Downtown News. Civic Center News, Inc.
- Zahniser, David (March 15, 2014). "Buildings slated for tear-down were rich part of Little Tokyo history". Los Angeles Times.
- http://thesource.metro.net/2017/02/23/actions-taken-today-by-the-metro-board-of-directors-7/
- https://www.metro.net/projects/connector/
- "Regional Connector Update". The Source. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
- https://www.metro.net/projects/notices/regional_notice_120105/. Retrieved 2015-01-13. Missing or empty
|title=(help)
External links
