LOS ANGELES — Metro’s Board of Directors on Thursday unanimously approved an extension of the K Line light-rail project, selecting the 9.7-mile San Vicente-Fairfax alignment, aiming to connect the South Bay to Hollywood, and boost ridership by tens of thousands each day.
While the vote was not a final approval, it was touted as a milestone, and came with a pledge to address concerns from Mid City residents without slowing the pace of the project.
“This is a transformational moment for Los Angeles,” L.A. County Supervisor and Metro board member Lindsey Horvath said in a statement. “Today’s approval of the K Line Northern Extension San Vicente-Fairfax alignment will finally connect communities and make it possible to travel from LAX to the Hollywood Bowl on one line.”
The board received 908 public comments for the project, with the majority speaking in favor.
They touted an extension project from Expo/Crenshaw to the Hollywood area that could boost the number of riders on the light rail by at least 100,000 per day.
The San Vicente-Fairfax alignment, which had been recommended to the Metro by that agency’s staff, is a 9.7-mile route that would add nine stations and connect to stops such as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, West Hollywood, Pacific Design Center and the Grove. A final 10th station would be created at the Hollywood Bowl.
Board members considered three potential routes, but they decided San Vicente-Fairfax alignment to push forward as the locally preferred alternative.
The board’s decision was part an early project delivery framework. But it was not a final approval of the project.
Metro board members Jackie Dupont-Walker and Holly J. Mitchell, also an L.A. County supervisor, voluntarily recused themselves from discussion and did not vote on the extension, as they were advised by Metro’s ethic officials about a potential conflict of interest, since they both have property within a certain distance of the proposed extension.
LA Metro Director (Board Member) Lindsey Horvath speaks ahead of the board’s vote on advancing the 9.7-mile San Vicente-Fairfax alignment on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Photo by Julianna Lozada)
Metro officials have estimated the extension project to cost between $11 billion to $15 billion. In addition to improving mobility, the project is projected to create more than 10,000 union construction jobs, generate $9.7 billion in union wages and generate over $22 billion in economic activity for Los Angeles County, according to Metro.
This alignment would also connect the route to four other major rail lines, including the under-construction expanded D (Purple) Line, and several bus lines.
West Hollywood has endorsed the route as well, offering to fund 25% of capital costs through a so-called Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District.
Through this effort, West Hollywood would provide approximately $2.2 billion to support this alignment.
“What that means is they will capture the value of the property that will experience this transformational change, and rather than putting into their coffers, as a city they’re going to invest it back into this infrastructure,” Horvath said, a former mayor and West Hollywood City Council member. “It’s not a new tax residents.”
She argued this method would accelerate the project toward completion sooner instead of what could be a target opening between 2047 and 2049.
The project has been opposed by some residents of the Mid City historic residential neighborhoods, including Lafayette Square and Wellington Square. They’ve expressed concerns about noise and vibration due to future tunnel construction activities, a lack of engagement, safety of tunnels below holder homes and impacts to property values and businesses.
About 18 months ago, at the request of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Mitchell, who are both Metro directors, the agency conducted more studies around impacts to homes in these areas, costing an additional $2.3 million.
Tunnels are proposed at depths of 40 to 120 feet below the surface in the project area, and 80 to 120 feet below Mid City — depths in which noise and vibration are estimated to be below the threshold of damage to structures and human perception, according to Metro.
Agency officials said similar tunneling has been completed in comparable ground conditions and at similar depths without damage to buildings. Staff added that tunnel easements would not affect properties, historic status, zoning, underground mineral rights or property values.
Metro’s Board of Directors unanimously approved a route for the northern extension of the K Line light rail project on Thursday, March 26, advancing the 9.7-mile San Vicente-Fairfax alignment and pledging to address concerns from Mid-City residents without delaying the project. In the audience, man supporters made their voices heard. (Photo by Julianna Lozada)
Though Mitchell and Dupont-Walker recused, there had been allegations that Bass, also a Metro board member, and Dupont-Walker had been lobbying their colleagues behind closed doors to delay the project via a motion, calling for more studies.
Bass denied those allegations during the public meeting. However, during Thursday’s meeting, Bass introduced a motion to approve the San Vicente-Fairfax alignment while also conducting further community engagement with affected Mid City residents and stakeholders in order to finalize and approve the Mid City alignment.
The motion states that this process would not impede or delay any efforts to advance the project, but rather “shall be a means to get people where they need to go and put Metro in a position to be a trusted neighbor.”
Ahead of public comment, Bass talked about the historically Black neighborhoods Lafayette Square and Sugar Hill, the latter of which was destroyed by construction of the I-10 Freeway in the 1960s.
“The concern here is, as we move forward, just cannot repeat a history like that,” Bass said.
During the meeting, a handful of Mid City residents expressed their approval for a K Line metro extension but disapproval for the San Vicente-Fairfax alignment, saying it would require destruction of their “only” grocery store in their neighborhood.
Metro staff said during their presentation that they will work with the property owner of the shopping center where the grocery store is located and relocate the shopping center prior to the beginning of construction.
Proponents of the San Vicente-Fairfax alignment — which on Thursday included a mix of West Hollywood officials and residents, Metro riders, pro-transit groups, and construction workers — dismissed opponents’ concerns as nonsense, citing that many of their concerns have already been studied by staff and found to have no impact. They urged that the staff-recommended extension be approved with no further delay.
A wave of pink could be seen throughout the Metro headquarters and overflow room in support of the K Line, which is represented as pink on Metro maps.
“It’s very important that we move together jointly, so I’m glad we were able to reach a compromise that moves this project forward and doesn’t slow it down,” said West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman, who’s been a vocal supporter of the extension.
After an hour-and-a-half of public comment, the board came to a vote, which prompted applause by a majority of those at the meeting.
Zennon Ulyate-Crow, a 23-year-old running for State Senate District 24, said that he believes “people power” is what drove the board to approve the extension.
“I am so happy that with over 150 public commentators today, with all the sustained outreach and calls to peoples’ offices, that we used ‘people power’ to get the outcome we got,” Ulyate-Crow said. “This is what organizing looks like. I think it’s really exciting that we’re seeing a lot of this community and people that are organizing in support of these projects finally outnumbering the small minority of people that totally oppose them.”
City News Service contributed to this report. Julianna Lozada is a correspondent with the Southern California News Group.