An upcoming presentation to Metro's Westside/Central Service Council has revealed a new look for the pedestrian bridge in Downtown Los Angeles that will link the Metro's future 2nd/Hope Station to the Broad Museum's outdoor plaza.

Although earlier presentations have portrayed the overpass as a spartan expanse across Hope Street, new renderings depict a more refined product.  The bridge is divided into two rectangular segments, both of which are centered around concrete banks featuring green space and seating.  Pedestrian lighting lines the fencing along the perimeter of the structure.

These improvements will mesh with similar upgrades planned for the Grand Avenue Project's Parcel L, which now serves as a utilitarian concrete plaza at the back of the Broad Museum.  The Museum is currently working with L.A. County officials to "soften," this space by potentially adding landscaping and outdoor seating, with design work from Inglewood-based architecture firm FER Studio.

When completed, the bridge and extended plaza will serve as a front door to Metro passengers visiting the cultural institutions along Grand Avenue, which also includes the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  The new 2nd/Hope Station is being built as part of the Regional Connector, a 1.9-mile subway tunnel that will connect the Blue and Expo Lines at 7th Street/Metro Center Station to the Gold Line at Union Station.  Completion of the rail link is scheduled to occur in 2021.

The new station will also provide a boon to the Broad Museum, which recently celebrated its first anniversary.  The $140-million building, which displays the vast contemporary art collection of philanthropist Eli Broad and his wife Edythe, played host to more than 820,000 visitors during its first year of operation, ranking it among the top 15 art museums in the United States.