26th Street/Bergamot station

For the Santa Monica arts facility adjacent to the Metro Station, see Bergamot Station.
26th Street/Bergamot
 Expo Line 
Location 2425 Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica
Coordinates 34°01′40″N 118°28′12″W / 34.0279°N 118.4699°W / 34.0279; -118.4699
Owned by Metro
Tracks 2
Construction
Parking none
Bicycle facilities TBD
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Status testing
History
Opened October 17, 1875
Closed September 30, 1953
Rebuilt May 20, 2016 (anticipated)
Previous names Bergamot
Services
Preceding station   Metro Rail   Following station
Expo Line
Phase 2
(future)
  Former services  
Pacific Electric
Sunset
Air Line

26th Street/Bergamot (formerly Bergamot) is an at-grade light rail station in the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system. It is located near the intersection of 26th Street and Olympic Boulevard in Santa Monica, California. When it re-opens, the station will be served by the Expo Line.[1]

This station is currently in the testing phase as part of Expo Phase 2. It is scheduled to be in service on May 20, 2016[2] with the opening of the Expo Phase 2 of the Expo Line.[3][4][5]

Location and design

The station is in the Pico District of Santa Monica, along the southern edge of Olympic Boulevard, just east of 26th Street.

Attractions

The City of Santa Monica refers to the station area as the "Bergamot Transit Village".[6] It is also within walking distance of several business offices and studios, including the Water Garden office complex.

The station will have entrances on both ends.[7]

Name and history

Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) still grows in clumps around the station area.

The name "Bergamot Station" dates back to 1875 when it was a stop and car storage area on the steam powered Los Angeles and Independence Railroad from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles - as well as the subsequent Santa Monica Air Line on the Pacific Electric trolley system until 1953. The station was named after Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), a wild flower native to North America, that once flourished in the area.[8]

Vehicle maintenance facility

Expo Phase 2 includes a maintenance facility for Expo light-rail vehicles. This facility performs shop-related activities, including servicing, cleaning, inspection and repair of LRT vehicles. It also includes a yard with a storage capacity of up to 45 LRT vehicles.[9]

Several locations for this facility were proposed and evaluated, including the "Verizon site" (land just west of Bergamot Station, between Stewart Street and Centinela Avenue) and the Bergamot Station site itself. Use of the Verizon site was opposed by many residents of the surrounding Stewart Park neighborhood, who feared the project would create noise and other environmental impact. Use of the Bergamot Station site was opposed by artists at Bergamot Station, who successfully argued that Bergamot had become an irreplaceable resource for the west coast arts community.[10]

The City of Santa Monica and Expo built the facility on land which includes the Verizon site, as well as land that was a parking lot owned by Santa Monica College. They believe that with this "hybrid site", most environmental impacts from the facility were properly mitigated. [11][12][13]

Bus connections

References

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, May 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.