Westwood/Rancho Park station

Westwood/Rancho Park is an at-grade light rail station in the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system located at the intersection of Westwood Boulevard and Exposition Boulevard in the Rancho Park neighborhood of West Los Angeles. It serves the E Line.[2]

Westwood/Rancho Park
 
The platform at Westwood/Rancho Park looking eastbound
Location2594 Westwood Boulevard
Coordinates34.0368°N 118.4258°W / 34.0368; -118.4258
Owned byMetro
Platforms1 center platform
Tracks2
Construction
ParkingNone[1]
Bicycle facilitiesTBD
Disabled accessYes
History
OpenedOctober 17, 1875 (October 17, 1875)
RebuiltMay 20, 2016 (May 20, 2016)
Previous namesTalamantes
Services
Preceding station   Metro Rail   Following station
E Line (Expo)
  Former services  
Pacific Electric
toward Rustic Canyon
Air Line
The Palms
  Future service  
L Line (Gold)
toward Atlantic
Location

Although opponents filed a lawsuit to halt construction, they were ultimately unsuccessful in their efforts (see Opposition section, below).

Location and design

Platform Westbound  E Line (Expo) toward Downtown Santa Monica (Expo/Sepulveda)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Eastbound  E Line (Expo) toward 7th Street/Metro Center (Palms)

Westwood/Rancho Park Station is located at Exposition Boulevard just east of Westwood Boulevard, between Westwood Boulevard and Overland Avenue.[3] This station is located in Rancho Park, an affluent single-family neighborhood south of Westwood and southwest of Century City. The station location is a short walk from the Westside Pavilion shopping mall.

The final environmental impact report included 170 surface parking spaces at this station, with an option to remove all parking for transit users (20 parking spaces would be provided for local residents only). In March 2011, the Expo Board approved the no-parking option. Sepulveda station, less than one mile away, has a parking lot.

Opposition

In the Final EIR, Metro staff recommended routing the Expo Line along the Exposition Right-Of-Way through Rancho Park (which includes Westwood Station), at-grade. During the EIR process, a group of neighbors known as Neighbors For Smart Rail (NFSR) organized to oppose at-grade light rail through this ROW.[4] The group claims that this design will be dangerous if built as specified, and that Metro failed to comply with environmental law. Metro publicly disputed these claims,[5] as did several groups supporting the current design.[6][7][8]

On 5 March 2010, NFSR filed a lawsuit to halt construction of Expo Phase 2.[9] This lawsuit was dismissed by the Superior Court of the State of California on February 22, 2011.[10]

Bus connections

References

Media related to Westwood/Rancho Park station at Wikimedia Commons

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