Metro could finally bring rail to West Hollywood, but concerns from LA residents persist

At a rally in February, the mayor of West Hollywood said he’s advocated for direct rail access to the city for years. Each time a new line was built, Mayor John Heilman said he was told it wasn’t the city’s time.

“Now is our time,” he said at the rally.

L.A. Metro’s Board is set to vote on Thursday on the staff-recommended route for the northern extension of the K Line, which would place three much sought-after rail stations in West Hollywood.

The decision over the train route is a political test for the board. West Hollywood has established itself as a powerfully pro-transit city and has for years studied the feasibility of fronting billions of dollars to kickstart the project without raising taxes.

At the same time, a small contingent of homeowners in an historic Mid City neighborhood continue to reject Metro staff’s assurances, backed by years of studies and history, that the train and its construction will have minimal, if any, effect on their daily lives.

The homeowners have met with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who has a seat on the board of the countywide transportation agency, as recently as March 16. Metro Board Director Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, who lives in the neighborhood where residents are concerned, was also at the meeting despite recusing herself from public meetings about the project.

L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who has held positions as mayor and City Council member of West Hollywood and has a seat on the Metro Board, characterized the decision on Thursday as an existential one for Metro.

“Are they interested in being serious partners in building infrastructure when people come to the table with billions of dollars to invest?” Horvath said to LAist on Wednesday after a Metro committee declined to take a position on the rail extension. “Or are we going to move in a different direction?”

L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has worked with and alongside West Hollywood to bring Metro rail to the city. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has engaged privately with Lafayette Square residents who are opposed to the route for the K Line Northern extension,

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Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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Primer on the extension

The K Line currently runs from Redondo Beach to Crenshaw and stops at the LAX/Metro Transit Center. Earlier in March, Metro officials recommended a route for the train to continue north through Mid City and West Hollywood and terminate at the Hollywood Bowl.

L.A. Metro staff recommended the San Vicente-Fairfax alignment for the K Line Northern extension. The alignment is shown in this map in a dotted green line. The pink line represents the current K Line.

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L.A. Metro

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The recommended route would attract 60,000 daily trips, the most of the routes studied by Metro. It would also reach a higher number of residents and jobs within a half-mile of the nine proposed stations, according to Metro staff estimates.

Committee meeting lays bare the politics at play 

During the public comment period at Metro’s Planning and Programming committee meeting on March 18, supporters celebrated the transformational potential of the route.

The route would connect to the D Line in Wilshire and the B Line in Hollywood, closing a north-south gap that currently exists in Metro’s rail network. The extension would link to cultural hubs, including the Museum District and Hollywood Bowl, major employers such as Cedars Sinai Medical Center and queer nightlife along Santa Monica and Sunset boulevards.

Also at the meeting, Lafayette Square residents expressed concerns, which have persisted for years, over the effects of tunneling on property values, noise and vibration, as well as the planned demolition of a nearby grocery store.

Based on the concerns, the Metro Board directed agency staff in October 2024 to do additional analysis and community outreach. That work, which cost an additional $2.3 million, filtered into the recommendation Metro staff will present to its board on Thursday. The presentation includes a modified route that minimizes underground easements under residential neighborhoods and assurances that tunneling will be deep enough to zero out any surface-level disruptions.

“They still want to tear down our only grocery store and our only drugstore,” Wade Eck, a 25-year resident of Lafayette Square, said to LAist. “That’s where people should really question what’s going on.”

Metro said it’s committed to relocating the Ralph’s that would be demolished before construction.

The fissure in public opinion about the train was enough for acting director of the committee, Ara Najarian, to suggest the discussion continue at the full board meeting Thursday, which he termed a “more august forum,” rather than issuing a recommendation.

Najarian said he supports the route as proposed by Metro staff, but he wants to ensure Bass can weigh in. The mayor could still share her thoughts on Thursday even if the committee recommended the item for approval.

The mayor’s meetings

Bass’ office told LAist she participated in meetings on March 11 and 16 about the K Line Northern Extension. The March 16 meeting involved members of the Lafayette Square neighborhood.

Bass supports the extension, her office said, but didn’t specify if that meant she supports the Metro staff-recommended route, would like to see a modification or wants to delay the vote entirely.

“Mayor Bass supports the K Line Northern extension because it will ease congestion, create jobs and expand access to culture, education, opportunity and housing,” her office said in a statement. “Mayor Bass regularly meets with community members and believes residents should have their voices heard at Metro headquarters.”

Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, who is one of the mayor’s appointees to the Metro Board, was present for both meetings, Bass’ office said.

The founding member of a faith-based development group in South L.A., Dupont-Walker’s current residence is in Lafayette Square, according to an LAist review of public records.

When the item came up at the committee meeting on Wednesday, Dupont-Walker recused herself, citing a “perceived conflict.”

When reached by email and phone, Dupont-Walker declined to comment on the nature and terms of her recusal and in what capacity she attended the meetings with the mayor.

“Unfortunately while deliberations are in process this month, I am not engaging [regarding] this matter,” Dupont-Walker said in an email to LAist.

Metro Board Member Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, a Lafayette Square resident, as recused herself from public meetings about the extension but has participated in private meetings with the L.A. mayor about the project.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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West Hollywood isn’t shaken

West Hollywood City Councilmember Chelsea Byers grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and told her parents she wanted to move to a city that was walkable and had a train.

“ My parents now live in that city in Arizona, while I am waiting for a train here,” Byers said to LAist.

Byers said she’s hoping the politics and behind-the-scenes maneuvering doesn’t jeopardize the opportunity the train extension presents for West Hollywood.

In 2018, the West Hollywood City Council initiated the process of studying how the city could, in coordination with L.A. County, capture a certain proportion of future property tax growth in a defined area near the project and funnel it towards construction. Critically, this plan wouldn’t involve raising taxes.

“Every time a property is redeveloped or sold, it adds to that increment, which adds to the amount of money that you can raise,” Eli Lipmen, head of transit advocacy group Move LA and supporter of the Metro-recommended route for the extension, said to LAist.

The Metro-staff recommended route is the most expensive of the options studied, with an estimated capital cost of nearly $15 billion. That cost far exceeds the $2.2 billion allocated toward the project in the expenditure plan for Measure M, the half-cent sales tax for transit projects county voters approved in 2016.

Byers said a swift decision on Thursday is critical to the success of the financial plan, known as an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, since the city has a “huge list” of redevelopment projects on the horizon.

If the Metro staff-recommended route is approved on Thursday, West Hollywood City Council and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors would separately pursue creating the district within which property tax growth could be captured.

Though she was “disappointed” that the vote on Thursday will happen without the recommendation from the committee, Horvath ultimately struck an optimistic tone.

“ I believe that this agency is committed to a future that connects our region …  and I think this alignment really is an important component of that regional conversation,” she said.