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Metro gives double toot for $2.3B Union Station makeover

Funding agreement includes $423M for first phase, plus $300M for preconstruction

Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins and a rendering of the Union Station (Getty, Metro)
Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins and a rendering of the Union Station (Getty, Metro)

A $2.3 billion makeover and expansion of Union Station in Los Angeles just picked up a $720-million head of steam.

The board of directors of Metro, a countywide public transit agency, approved a funding agreement with the California High Speed Rail Authority to pay for a $423.3 million initial phase of the project, plus $297.8 million for preconstruction, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

A rendering of the Union Station (Metro)

A rendering of the Union Station (Metro)

The funds will go toward building a new viaduct over the 101 Freeway and two initial run-through tracks.

The project, called Link Union Station, expands upon a longtime plan to construct run-through tracks at the southern end of the passenger rail hub, allowing trains to cross over the freeway.

This would eliminate Union Station’s historic stub-end layout, which forces all trains to enter and exit through the five-track opening north of the station platforms.

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A rendering of the Union Station (Metro)

A rendering of the Union Station (Metro)

Not included in the initial phase are some of the more costly elements of Link Union Station, including additional run-through tracks, a new passenger concourse, and raising the main platform area to provide clearance above the freeway.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as Metro is formally known, bought the 83-year-old landmark station in 2011 for $75 million, and has secured $950 million in funding for a station overhaul.

The routing upgrades will allow Metrolink, Amtrak and future high-speed rail service into Union Station to serve up to 200,000 daily passengers – double the number of people it served prior to the pandemic.

Union Station’s master plan will also permit new commercial developments on the property. IT also adds new bus facilities at the station’s eastern portal, and a new plaza out on Alameda Street.

[Urbanize Los Angeles] – Dana Bartholomew

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California High Speed Rail AuthorityCommercial Real EstateLos AngelesMetroUnion Station