Just west of Union Station's Patsaouras Plaza, Metro has completed construction of a new bus platform in the median of the El Monte Busway.
The $51-million project, which has been in development for more than a decade, will serve passengers on Metro’s J Line, as well as more than a half dozen other lines which make use of the busway. The project includes ticket vending machines, electronic signage, and other features common to Metro's rail and bus rapid transit stations.
The Gensler-designed project connects with Union Station via a 750-foot pedestrian bridge, wrapped with aluminum panels as part of an art installation by Ned Kahn.
The completed platform, which was unveiled to the public at a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 30, replaces a bus stop at the El Monte Busway's terminus at Alameda Street. The street-level station will be removed from service and converted to a layover facility, although a replacement stop will be located at Los Angeles Street for passengers headed toward the Civic Center.
The center-median platform offers a shorter walk for J Line passengers and other operations at Union Station, including the entrances to Metro's B, D, and L Lines and Metrolink trains.
Construction began for the station in 2017, but was temporarily halted due to the discovery of Native American artifacts on the site one year later, according to The Source.
The completion of the Patsaouras Bus Plaza comes just weeks after Metro completed work on a $4-million transit plaza a short distance east at the intersection of Vignes Street and Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard.
