Little Tokyo/Arts District station

Little Tokyo/Arts District
Location	200 N Alameda St, Los Angeles
Coordinates	34°02′59″N 118°14′17″W / 34.0498°N 118.2380°W / 34.0498; -118.2380Coordinates: 34°02′59″N 118°14′17″W / 34.0498°N 118.2380°W / 34.0498; -118.2380
Owned by	Metro
Line(s)	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	Open, being relocated
History
Opened	15 November 2009
Rebuilt	2020 (expected)
Services
Preceding station   Metro Rail   Following station Pico / Aliso toward Atlantic Gold Line Union Station toward APU/Citrus College

Little Tokyo/Arts District station is an at-grade light rail station in the 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

Platform	Southbound	←  Gold Line toward Atlantic (Pico/Aliso)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left
	Northbound	→  Gold Line toward APU/Citrus College (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 station

The current Little Tokyo/Arts District station will be shut down and replaced by an underground station as part of the Regional Connector project. The new station was originally referred to as 1st St/Central in planning documents, but was ultimately assigned the same name as the existing station.^[6] The Regional Connector will be a tunnel through Downtown Los Angeles that will connect the current Metro Rail Blue, Expo, and Gold Lines. Under current plans, the station will be served by both the restructured Blue Line, connecting Long Beach and the San Gabriel Valley, and the restructured Gold Line, connecting Santa Monica and East Los Angeles. The Regional Connector is scheduled to open in 2021.^[7] The decision to rebuild the station underground was driven in part by traffic concerns on Alameda and 1st Street caused by at-grade trains.^[8]

Preliminary work required the demolition of two modest, one-story brick building stores with one of the structures dating back at least to 1898.^[5] The above-ground station was briefly closed due to the relocation of tracks for the Regional Connector project in early 2016.^[9]

Bus connections

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

The station is also served by several LADOT DASH Buses

Landmarks

• Japanese American National Museum
• Little Tokyo
• The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

References

External links

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

• Official Eastside Extension page LACMTA