Expo Line’s Pico and 7th St/Metro Center stations to close for 60 days beginning Saturday

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Expo Line service at 7th St/Metro Center and Pico stations will be closed for 60 days beginning Saturday, June 22, for construction work that is part of the New Blue Improvements Project. The two Expo Line stations are expected to reopen in late August.

During the closures, all Expo Line trains bound for Los Angeles will terminate at LATTC/Ortho Institute Station, where bus shuttles will be available for customers to continue to Pico and 7th St/Metro Center stations. See the maps below for the location of the shuttle stops at 7th/Metro, Pico and LATTC/Ortho stations.

Free 856 Local bus shuttles will run seven days a week with buses matching the frequencies of Expo Line trains. Regular rail service will follow its usual schedule between LATTC/Ortho Institute and Downtown Santa Monica Station. Subway trains on the Red/Purple Line at 7th/Metro in downtown L.A. will run on their regular schedules during construction work on the Blue and Expo Lines.

Metro recommends that Expo Line riders plan ahead and allow extra time to reach their downtown L.A. destinations. Riders traveling to and from DTLA may also want to consider alternate routes such as the Metro Rapid 720 from Westwood, Metro Rapid 733 from Culver City, Metro Rapid 754 from Expo/Vermont, Silver Line 910 and 950, Big Blue Bus Rapid 7, Big Blue Bus Rapid 10 from Santa Monica and LADOT DASH F from Expo Park/USC.

Additionally, Big Blue Bus will operate a supplementary, rush hour shuttles to provide a direct connection between 7th/Metro and LATTC/Ortho (there will be no stop at Pico Station). For more information, click here.

The Metro Blue Line is undergoing an eight month, $350-million modernization that began in January 2019 to improve reliability, enhance safety and improve the customer experience. The Expo Line and Blue Line share tracks in downtown Los Angeles and part of the work this summer involves replacing track at the junction of the two rail lines at Washington Boulevard and Flower Street and in the 7th/Metro tunnel.

The southern section of the New Blue Improvements Project was completed on June 1 and marked the halfway point of the project. The northern segment of the Blue Line from Compton Station to 7th/Metro in downtown Los Angeles is expected to reopen this fall.

For information visit the New Blue website or call the project hotline (213) 418-3039.

 

Categories: Service Alerts

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15 replies ›

  1. How does this _really_ help:”Big Blue Bus will operate a supplementary, rush hour shuttles to provide a direct connection between 7th/Metro and LATTC/Ortho (there will be no stop at Pico Station).” if they are charging full BBB fare for the ride?

  4. Rode the expo line to LATTC/Ortho, took the expo shuttle to 7th and took the red line towards union station. It charged another fare of $1.75, did not count as a transfer

    • Hi Oscar —

      Thanks for bringing this to our attention — we also received some complaints about this on Twitter. Staff is looking into it and we’ll have response later. Thanks,

      Steve Hymon
      Editor, The Source

      • Hi Oscar;

        From Metro staff: Metro is in the process of refunding customers who have been charged twice during the Expo Line service closures. This issue should be fixed by tomorrow. Thank you for your feedback!

        Steve Hymon
        Editor, The Source

  8. https://www.metro.net/projects/new-blue-line-improvements/

    FYI – the map on this page should probably indicate that the BBB 7 Local also serves Wilshire/Western station now (not just the Rapid, as was previously the case), especially since R7 no longer operates on weekends.

    In addition, is there a reason the special BBB shuttle isn’t shown on this map?

  9. USC starts August 26 and the new students move in the week before so they need to end before then, otherwise there will be traffic chaos.

  10. Yeah for the switch replacement (upgrade?).

    Is any work being done during the shutdown related to the tie-in to the Regional connector tunnels?
    Is the signage being upgrade to the new naming convention?

  11. Wasn’t it originally supposed to be 45 days? What’s the sudden 15 day extension for?