Metro Unveils Station Design for Regional Connector

(Public meetings for the connector continue today at the Central Library, 630 W. Fifth St.; 1 to 3 p.m., Aug. 28, at the Colburn School, 200 S. Grand Ave.; and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Aug. 29, at the Japanese American National Museum, 369 E. First St. Project information is at metro.net/projects/connector.)

At last night’s outreach meeting for the Regional Connector, Metro finally released its station drawings for the four new train stations that will be built as part of the Connector project. Looking at the renderings, it’s hard to see what exactly about these drawings required such secrecy that Metro refused to show them to press even after a briefing for Metro Board Members.

Before analyzing the station design, we should note that this is not the final design, but just the most recent thoughts on how the stations could and should look. Opportunities exist for artists to personalize the stations somewhat, as we’ve seen with both the Expo Line Stations and the Orange Line Extension Stations are also forthcoming.

After the jump, we’ll look at each station, starting with the Little Tokyo Station and provide some basic thoughts.

Little Tokyo Station (1st and Central)

Bunker Hill Station (2nd and Hope)

Broadway Station, aka “Historic Core” (2nd and Broadway), “Single Entrance”

From The Source: This station will have a station entrance at the intersection of 2nd and Broadway. The site consists of only a parking lot adjacent to the Los Angeles Times building and is possibly available for a new development. An entirely new secondary station entrance could easily be incorporated into any future building designs on the Spring Street side of the station. The block between Broadway and Spring streets is about 400 feet long — a very short walk.

The alternate angle

Broadway Station 2nd Entrance