Of all the urban areas in the United States, when one thinks of urban sprawl or a megalopolis invariably Los Angeles comes to mind. The city proper covers a total area of 502.7 square miles comprising 468.7 square miles of land and 34 square miles of water. The city line extends for 44 miles from north to south and for 29 miles from east to west. 

With all that space, the road traffic congestion is still palpable (and famous), with over 10 million people living in Los Angeles County. Many residents depend on public transportation as an alternative, and LA Metro serves this huge urban area with disparate neighborhoods as best as it can.  However, it stood to reason that over time, and with a master plan that was necessarily very fluid, several of the main rail lines ended up not being properly connected.  This resulted in multiple connections and long wait times for many LA residents.

The answer was almost four decades in the making, first envisioned as early as 1984 when planning and building the Metro Blue Line.  It culminated on June 16, 2023, when LA Metro opened its long-anticipated new Regional Connector subway project. The $1.8 billion 1.9-mile-long project ties together three existing Metro rail lines, adding three new downtown stations, and making a big difference for LA residents. Trips in and through Central L.A. that used to involve one or two transfers now are single seat rides with no transfers, saving up to 20 minutes and more by eliminating waiting for connecting trains.

This massive undertaking began preconstruction with the relocation of utility pipes in December 2012 and heavy construction including the boring of the tunnels began in late 2014.  In April 2022 the trackwork, station platforms and system guideways were completed.

Working with the design team at Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Contractor Skanska, Apogee Lighting was chosen to participate in the lighting of the three new stations: Little Tokyo/Arts District located on Central Avenue​, Historic Broadway at Broadway, and Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill located on Hope Street.

Apogee’s custom solution leveraged two flagship transit products, our Platform Lighting System which is renowned as the most complete subway lighting system in the industry and our ML66 product which is our ultra-efficient linear LED luminaire.  These were incorporated into our custom solution that includes: 

• The Edge Light System with lighting running along the track system

• Transverse Side Bands that run across the station platforms

• Illumination for various signage on the platform top and sides

• Artlights (featuring the ML66) that provide illumination of the various art installations throughout the stations

• Downlight fluorescent or LED tube lighting

• Wireways/housings to handle the myriad functional wiring necessary throughout the station platforms including lighting, communications, fire alarm, CCTV, and more

• Speaker compartment housings that are mounted via pendant and cantilever arm.

All Apogee lighting systems were designed to be as aesthetic as they were functional, tying into the overall design of the new connector station system.

The new LA Connector project was one of the highest profile construction jobs ever conceived and deployed in Los Angeles County.  Apogee is gratified to be a partner in its success and furthermore we look forward to completing our part in the LA Westside project comprised by the La Brea, Fairfax and La Cienega Stations.