Expo Park/USC station

Expo Park/USC  Expo Line 

Expo Park/USC Expo Line Station, westbound platform.
Location 661 W Exposition Boulevard, University Park, Los Angeles
Coordinates 34°01′06″N 118°17′12″W / 34.0182°N 118.2866°W / 34.0182; -118.2866Coordinates: 34°01′06″N 118°17′12″W / 34.0182°N 118.2866°W / 34.0182; -118.2866
Owned by Metro
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Connections Metro Local: 81, 102, 200
Metro Express: 442, 550 (M-F, Peak Only); LADOT DASH: F, Southeast
Construction
Parking none
Bicycle facilities 10 bike racks
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Status in service
History
Opened October 17, 1875 (1875-10-17)
Rebuilt April 28, 2012 (2012-04-28)[1]
Previous names University
Services
Preceding station   Metro Rail   Following station
Expo Line
  Former services  
Pacific Electric
Air Line

Expo Park/USC (formerly University) is an at-grade light rail station in the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system. It is located at Exposition Boulevard and Trousdale Parkway, directly between the USC campus and Exposition Park, in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.It also serves the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the future Banc of California Stadium. This station is served by the Expo Line.[2]

Service

Metro Rail service

Expo Line service hours are approximately from 4 AM to 12:30 AM daily. Service resumed Saturday, April 28, 2012. Regular scheduled service resumed Monday, April 30, 2012.

Location and design

Platform
Side platform, doors will open on the right
Westbound ← Expo Line Expo Line toward Downtown Santa Monica (Expo/Vermont)
Eastbound → Expo Line Expo Line toward 7th Street/Metro Center (Jefferson/USC) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right

Expo Park/USC Station is located in the median of Exposition Boulevard, on the east side of Trousdale/Exposition, midway between Vermont Avenue and Figueroa Street. The station's entrance is on the east side of Trousdale/Exposition. The station's platforms slope down slightly toward the east, in order to accommodate the line's descent into a tunnel which passes under Figueroa Street.

The station's art was created by artist Robbert Flick. The untitled installation includes sequences of photographs taken on the boulevards near the station, creating a document of the local people and places as they were when the station was built.[3] The USC main campus occupies the area to the north of the station. To the south is Exposition Park, which includes several popular L.A. attractions, including:

Background

Expo Park/USC Station (originally proposed as "USC/Exposition Park") was proposed by Metro staff, with input from the public, during the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process. Many stakeholders cited the importance of the station, citing the convenient access it would provide the USC students/employees and Exposition Park guests. Moreover, a station here would be crucial for a temporary NFL venue at the current Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the future MLS Banc of California Stadium that replaced the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena,[4] as well as for future Olympic Games.

The administration of USC opposed at-grade light-rail along Exposition Boulevard, claiming that light-rail would separate the campus from Exposition Park. USC President Steven Sample,[5] in particular, was opposed to the project. Dr. Sample said he feared the line would create physical and psychological barriers between USC, Exposition Park, and the local community, and would be dangerous for pedestrians.[6]

However, general sentiment of students and neighbors was in support of the line. The Coliseum Commission took a strong position in support of this station, and the USC Student Senate [7] also passed a resolution. In the end, Metro staff included the possibility of building the Expo Park/USC station by including it as a design option in the Final EIR, that would only be built if funds for the station (estimated at $5 million) could be found and if local support were present. The report also recommended a short tunnel segment under the impacted intersections of Exposition/Figueroa and Exposition/Flower.

Once the FEIR had been approved, Expo (Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority) worked to secure the funds for this station and to negotiate its design. One other issue remaining to be resolved was USC’s request for special architecture for the three stations serving the campus.

Ultimately, USC did not contribute toward the cost of the station. Expo also abandoned any considerations for special architecture requested by USC. On September 19, 2007, the board of Metro approved funding for the cost of the station (which had increased to $7 million).[8] This allowed the station to be built along with the rest of Phase 1.

History

Originally a stop on the Los Angeles and Independence and Pacific Electric railroads, it closed on September 30, 1953 with closure of the Santa Monica Air Line and remained out of service until re-opening on Saturday, April 28, 2012. It was completely rebuilt for the opening of the Expo Line from little more than a station stop marker. Regular scheduled service resumed Monday, April 30, 2012.

It is the last former station stop of the Santa Monica Air Line to be re-opened. The Expo line travels north on a new right-of-way along Flower street from this stop. The original Air line right-of-way remains owned by Metro and continues east to the Blue line tracks, however no plans are in place for its use.

References

  1. ↑ Morante, Roger “Phase 1 Of Expo Light Rail To Open To Culver City In Mid-April”. © Santa Monica Mirror, 2012. Newspaper. Santa Monica Mirror. 16 Mar 2012.
  2. ↑ http://backup.buildexpo.org/phase1_overview.php
  3. ↑ http://backup.buildexpo.org/expoartistsbiopage.php
  4. ↑ https://lafc.com/stadium/
  5. ↑ http://www.usc.edu/president/
  6. ↑ http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-usc1-2009nov01,0,5155521,full.story
  7. ↑ http://senate.usc.edu/
  8. ↑ http://metro.net/board/Agendas/2007/09_september/20070919AP&P.pdf

Media related to Expo Park / USC (Los Angeles Metro station) at Wikimedia Commons

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