A public safety kiosk will be in the Wilshire/La Cienega station under the agreement between Metro and the city of Beverly Hills. (photo by Edwin Folven)

The Beverly Hills City Council on Nov. 19 conditionally approved construction of Metro’s ongoing D Line subway extension project between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. The council granted Metro’s request of waiving the city’s holiday moratorium, which usually prohibits construction during the holiday season in public right-of-way areas.

Work that will occur during the holiday season in public areas includes material and concrete deliveries from Monday to Friday between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Wilshire Boulevard will be reduced to one lane in each direction during those times. Usual work will occur underground and in Metro’s staging yards.

The city and Metro did not receive any feedback opposing non-noisy activities and lane reductions during late-night hours.

Conditions of the waiver approval include the nighttime work hours, no work on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, no road closures during L.A. Marathon weekend in March, the creation of a public safety center kiosk and a public restroom redesign.

Based on the conditions of the waiver approval, the Wilshire/La Cienega Station will include a public safety center kiosk, which will be a structure occupied by the city’s law enforcement officers and safety personnel to enhance public safety in the station. The city will be responsible for deploying staff at the kiosk. One Metro customer service employee can use the kiosk’s office space at a time. The city will oversee and pay for the kiosk’s design, and Metro will construct the kiosk. The construction costs will be reimbursed to Metro from the city. Utilities will be paid by the city, and the city will also reimburse Metro for annual maintenance and repair costs. The city will submit preliminary plans for the kiosk to Metro by Dec. 31, and final plans by Feb. 28, 2025.

“We are looking for Section One, the La Cienega Station, to have a welcoming presence but also have a presence that gives people security that they are coming to a place that they’ll be safe and that we provide quality information,” Beverly Hills director of public works Shana Epstein said.

City Council members expressed support for the waiver agreement and the public safety kiosk.

“I’m very happy that we have the kiosk and that it would have a bathroom for our own employees as well as having that presence at the station when it first opens,” said Councilwoman Mary Wells, who served on the Metro Liaison Ad-Hoc Committee alongside Mayor Lester Friedman.

“Metro should see that public safety is important, that they’re losing ridership because trains are not safe, because buses are not safe. So when you have communities that actually want to make it safer for people to use public transportation, instead of putting roadblocks in the way, [Metro] should be fully embracing those,” Councilman John Mirisch said.

The city manager will negotiate with Metro to come to an agreement on a maximum cost for the public safety kiosk, among other specifications.

Street level work on the D Line subway project will continue along Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills through the holidays.
(photo by Edwin Folven)