Metro has big plans for upgrading L.A.'s historic Union Station to prepare for the 21st century. Future plans include run-through tracks (SCRIP), high-speed rail, expanded structures, and pedestrianization of station frontage. Construction is already underway on the new busway station. One small project that took a small step forward today is the Union Station Metro Bike Hub.
Metro had planned and budgeted to site the bike hub in an existing underground parking area below Patsaouras Plaza. The planned area was converted to ADA parking, so the bike hub was moved to a new stand-alone structure on the north side of the ticketing room in the historic station - near the Mosaic Apartments. Moving the site from within an existing building to a new freestanding building has increased the cost from $1.3 million to $2.5 million.
The Union Station Metro Bike Hub will be similar to the existing bike hub at the El Monte Silver Line BRT Station, which includes staffed bike parking, bike repair services, basic bike supply retail and some bike education materials.
Today, two Metro board committees (Finance, Budget and Audit, Planning and Programming) approved the $1.15 million budget increase. The item will now go to the full Metro board for likely approval at their February 23 full board meeting. If approved by the full board, construction would start next month, with an anticipated opening in Fall 2017.
