The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro) completed the renovation of the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station.
The station has been transformed into a state-of-the-art transit hub that offers a variety of improvements for riders and surrounding neighborhoods.
These upgrades serve some of the most underserved communities of Los Angeles. The Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station connects customers from the A Line (Blue) and the C Line (Green), and several bus lines including, Metro Bus lines 55, 120, 202 and the 205; Metro Micro on-demand service; GTrans 5; the LINK A and B King Medical Campus Shuttle; and the Lynwood Breeze D Line.
“Metro brings equity to this underserved community with improved Metro services such as the Rosa Parks Customer Center, Transit Court and a Mobility Hub that will provide Willowbrook residents with access to all Metro services without traveling to downtown Los Angeles,” said L.A. Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins. “Navigating this station has never been so convenient and easy. Everything is here to make a seamless journey for our customers and to enhance the customer experience for residents of Willowbrook and surrounding areas.”
The $129-million renovation and modernization includes:
- An extended A Line platform.
- A new at-grade pedestrian crossing.
- An expanded transfer mezzanine between the A and C Line.
- Electronic signs with real-time arrival times and wayfinding and signage upgrades.
- Custom LED lighting throughout the station and upgraded stairs and elevators.
- A new public plaza containing the Rosa Parks Customer Center.
- New offices for Transit Security and Transit Court.
- A full service Mobility Hub with safe bike parking.
- A pick-up and drop-off zone and nine regional and local bus bays.
- A modernized park-and-ride lot with new electrical charging stations.
- A pedestrian promenade connecting Wilmington Avenue to the station.
Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station is located at the intersection of Imperial Highway and Wilmington Avenue and is adjacent to the 105 freeway.
Since the completion of the Metro A Line (Blue) in 1990 and the Metro C Line (Green) in 1995, the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station has evolved from a neighborhood station into the fourth busiest station in the L.A. Metro system.
The station now provides patrons access to local amenities such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Campus, the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science and the adjacent Kenneth Hahn Plaza Shopping Center.
The station renovation was part of the New Blue Improvements Project State of Good Repair Program that included the $350-million overhaul of the entire A Line (Blue). The federal government provided a $10-million TIGER grant to help fund the project.
New artworks
As part of the improvements for the renovated station, two new site-specific artworks have been installed; the artists were selected through a competitive, community-based process.
One of the two photo collage murals by artist George Evans is installed above the customer center windows. Evans developed layered photo compositions that celebrate South Los Angeles’ distinct neighborhoods, personalities, landscapes, music and oral storytelling traditions. In line with his 30-plus years of cultivating the next generation of young artists and teaching students the skills needed to work in creative fields, the artwork is aptly titled Gifts of Freedom and Knowledge.
Second Line is a series of sculptural parasols by the artists Jamex and Einar de la Torre flanking the plaza and offering shade for transit customers. The grouping of sculptural artworks in the form of parasols explores the legacy of Rosa Parks and pays homage by including Parks’ iconic image and symbols from the civil rights movement in each parasol canopy. The design also reflects the folk art traditions of 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘰 and at-home lacemaking in the form of doilies, as well as the second line of spectators who join walking parades in New Orleans.
“The Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station completes its renovation at a time when Metro is driving an equitable relentless recovery from the pandemic,” said L.A. County Superviso, L.A. Metro Board Chair and L.A. County Board Chair Supervisor Hilda Solis. “Implementing the NextGen program and all its elements and now the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks, Metro supports its transit riders with a renovated, secure and reliable system to come back to transit.”
