Little Tokyo/Arts District (Los Angeles Metro station)

Little Tokyo/Arts District  Gold Line 
Location 200 N Alameda St, Los Angeles
Coordinates 34°02′59″N 118°14′17″W / 34.0498°N 118.2380°W
Owned by Metro
Line(s) Gold Line Gold Line 
Platforms 1 center platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Parking none
Bicycle facilities 12 bike rack spaces
4 lockers
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Status in service
History
Opened 15 November 2009
Services
Preceding station   Metro Rail   Following station
Pico / Aliso
toward Atlantic
Gold Line
Union Station

Little Tokyo/Arts District Station is an at-grade light rail station in the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system. It is located at the intersection of First and Alameda Streets, on the edge of Little Tokyo and the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles. The station is served by the Gold Line.[1] It opened in 2009 as part of the Gold Line Eastside Extension.

Metro Rail service

Gold Line service hours are approximately from 5:00 AM until 12:15 AM daily.[2]

Location

Little Tokyo/Arts District station is located on the border of two neighborhoods, Little Tokyo to the west and the Arts District to the east. A number of educational attractions are near the station, with the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Japanese American National Museum, and the Geffen Contemporary branch of the Museum of Contemporary Art.[3]

This area was once a key area for trains in downtown. James M. Davies, for whom the large tract was named, subdivided the area in 1891. Several railroad lines from different companies connected through this site. Davies great-nephew, Robert Davies Volk, was the owner of the lots at First and Alameda streets with brick buildings shaped to fit the long-gone rail lines.[4] The structures had played an important role in the cultural life of the Little Tokyo neighborhood for decades before the site was cleared for the future station.[5]

Station layout

Southbound Gold Line toward Atlantic (Pico/Aliso)
Northbound Gold Line toward Sierra Madre Villa (Union Station)

There is one island platform and two tracks at Little Tokyo/Arts District station located on the east side of Alameda Street between East 1st Street and East Temple Street. South of the station, the tracks curve to the east and line the middle of East 1st Street all the way to Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles.

Future

Regional Connector

When the Blue and Expo Lines connect to the Gold Line, via the Regional Connector, the Little Tokyo/Arts District station will be moved underground and across the street due to traffic concerns on Alameda and 1st Street caused by at-grade trains.[6] It will be renamed 1st St/Central Av Station.[7] Preliminary work required the demolition of two modest, one-story brick buildings with one of the structures dating back at least to 1898.[5]

Bus connections

The following bus routes stop at Little Tokyo/Arts District:

Class Route Western/southern terminus Eastern/northern terminus
Local 30/330 Mid-City
Pico-Rimpau Transit Center (shortline)
via Pico Boulevard

West Hollywood
Sunset Boulevard and San Vicente Boulevard
via San Vicente Boulevard
Little Tokyo/Arts District
eastern terminus (Line 330 and Line 30 shortline)
East Los Angeles
Indiana Gold Line Station
via 1st Street (Line 30 only)
Local 40 Redondo Beach
South Bay Galleria
via Hawthorne Boulevard, Crenshaw Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
Union Station

The station is also served by several LADOT DASH Buses

Landmarks

References

External links

Media related to Little Tokyo/Arts District (Los Angeles Metro station) at Wikimedia Commons