The first section of Metro’s D Line subway extension will open on May 8, putting a subway station less than a mile from West Hollywood’s southern border for the first time in the City’s history.
Metro Board Chair Fernando Dutra made the announcement Thursday. The 3.9-mile extension adds three new stations along Wilshire Boulevard: Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, and Wilshire/La Cienega in Beverly Hills. Riders will be able to get from Wilshire/La Cienega to Union Station in downtown LA in about 20 minutes with no transfers.
That La Cienega station is the one West Hollywood residents should pay attention to. It sits less than a mile from the Beverly Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and it’s practically walking distance from the southern edge of WeHo along La Cienega Boulevard. Anyone who works at Cedars, shops at the Beverly Center, or catches the bus on La Cienega is about to have a direct subway connection to downtown.
What’s Actually Opening
Metro broke ground on Section 1 back in November 2014. The original price tag was $2.8 billion and it was supposed to be done by 2023. Cost overruns pushed the total to $3.51 billion, and a testing snag in late 2025 delayed the opening by about two months.
Each station has a landscaped street-level plaza, elevators and escalators, and commissioned artworks at the street, concourse, and platform levels. There’s bike parking and connections to local bus lines at every stop.
The Wilshire/Fairfax station puts riders steps from LACMA, the La Brea Tar Pits, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and the Petersen Automotive Museum. The new David Geffen Galleries at LACMA actually open to the public just days before the station does.
Metro projects the full D Line extension will draw 53,000 new daily riders once all three sections are running.
The Bigger Picture for West Hollywood
The D Line extension is part of a much larger picture for West Hollywood transit. The Wilshire/La Cienega station is eventually where West Hollywood’s own subway line would connect.
The K Line Northern Extension — the project that would bring Metro rail directly into West Hollywood with stations on Santa Monica Boulevard — needs the D Line as a connection point. The first phase of any K Line construction would likely connect the K Line to the D Line at Wilshire Boulevard, making the D Line extension an essential piece of West Hollywood’s transit future.
West Hollywood has been pushing for the K Line for over a decade, and the City backs the San Vicente-Fairfax route as the only option that would give West Hollywood multiple stations. Metro said back in November 2025 that staff would recommend a route in “Winter 2025/26.” That window runs through March, and there’s been no announcement yet.
The City held a rally earlier this month at West Hollywood Park where city and regional leaders backed the San Vicente-Fairfax alignment. LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, LA Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, and Mayor John Heilman all spoke in support of the route.
Two More Sections Coming
Sections 2 and 3 of the D Line Extension are expected to open in 2027. Section 2 brings the subway to downtown Beverly Hills and Century City. Section 3 extends it to Westwood Village with access to UCLA and to the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, which serves more than 84,000 veterans a year.
The entire $9.5 billion project adds nine miles of subway tunnel and seven stations from Koreatown to Westwood. When it’s all finished, the trip from the Westside to downtown will take about 30 minutes.
Metro is framing the opening around some major events headed to Southern California — the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl, and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The D Line extension is the 10th completed project under Metro’s Twenty-Eight by ’28 initiative to upgrade the region’s transit infrastructure before the Olympics.
Beverly Hills has been preparing for the La Cienega station’s opening with increased public safety planning, since it will function as the end-of-line station until Section 2 opens. That means increased foot traffic, and the city has been coordinating with Metro on security, homeless outreach, and pedestrian flow.
For West Hollywood, May 8 doesn’t bring a subway station into the city limits. But it puts one closer than it’s ever been, and the line it’s sitting on is the same one the City hopes will eventually run through the heart of WeHo.
Related Coverage
West Hollywood Metro K Line Rally Backs San Vicente-Fairfax Route
Metro Approved the Biggest Subway in LA History Thursday. West Hollywood K Line Still Waiting
West Hollywood Hosts Rally Thursday to Push Metro for San Vicente-Fairfax K Line Route
LA Metro Presents Plans for K Line Northern Extension to Public
WeHo Lauds Laura Friedman’s Bill Paving Way for Metro K Line
Why not build fast electric trams for WH connecting to Metro?
Metro knew that west hollywood residents didn’t want the subway,so they called it the big D,hoping weho residents,will bend over for it..! 🤣
“Ride The D”
Not having the D line is hard to swallow. Sounds like everyone wants the D.
12 years of constant construction, which completely upended Wilshire Boulevard. Imagine what the K Subway Line would do to West Hollywood’s narrow streets. I truly hope METRO decides against the 3 subway stops lobbied by West Hollywood City Council, not to increase accessibility but as an alibi to allow developers to build 9 story buildings of luxury apartments with no parking around these subway stops. Blatant corruption. Vote WeHO Council Members out!
I understand that the following are the three West Hollywood stops that will be open sometime between 2046-2049.
San Vicente/Santa Monica Station (serving the Rainbow District and Pacific Design Center)
Fairfax/Santa Monica Station
La Cienega/Beverly Station (serving Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)
Sadly, the CA SB79 housing law in effect this July overrides local zoning, and will allow higher density development now near major transit stops without supplying adequate parking 25 years before the Metro arrives. Goddess help us!
What should happen now is that the city of West Hollywood consider using the small Cityline buses to pick up passengers at the Wilshire/La Cienega D Line station with a direct connection to the Rainbow district. It would show users what service will be like if rail can come to West Hollywood with the shorter running times.
It’s very different to have transportation above ground and below ground. For starters, the subway entails 15 years of Armageddon construction. Your idea of having the Cityline buses is great and it saves 3.5 billion of METRO money for a subway line that no one will use
Terrifc idea. Who does one talk to in City Hall in order to make that happen?