L.A. Metro holds dedication, ribbon cutting ceremony for K Line’s Martin Luther King Jr. Station

Officials held a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony at The Martin Luther King K Line Station in south Los Angeles on Saturday.

Labelled “a key stop” on the soon-to-open K Line that will create a new transit nexus in the Crenshaw District for residents and others looking for equitable access to jobs and opportunity.

“The Martin L. King Jr. Station represents a new opportunity to provide much-needed transit to the Crenshaw community,” said Glendale City Councillor Ara Najarian. “The station is appropriately named after Dr. King, who fought hard to improve access to opportunity during the civil rights era, as it will help connect local Crenshaw residents to jobs, housing and community resources when the K Line opens later this year.”

L.A. Metro says the MLK Station is one of the most important stations on the K Line, providing access to major commercial centers, employment, housing developments and institutional centers. The MLK Station itself is in the most heavily developed area of the entire K Line and will serve the nearby Kaiser Permanente medical facility at Marlton Square.

“After decades of planning and advocating, we are finally ready for an overdue celebration dedicating the Martin Luther King Jr. Station as part of the K Line.  This station represents a vital connection of a cornerstone destination, the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall, to the entire Metro rail system,” said L.A. County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Holly J. Mitchell.  “Generations of Crenshaw residents and visitors hoped for a more convenient, reliable method of accessing South LA cultural and economic hotspots, so I am proud to say that dream has been realized.”

The K Line, also known as the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project, will connect the existing Metro E Line (Expo) at Crenshaw and Exposition Boulevards to the C Line (Green) in El Segundo, providing a key transit alternative to driving the increasingly congested I-10, I-405 and I-105 freeways.

With a projected $2 billion price tag, the public transportation project that will provide easier north-south access to Crenshaw District residents and visitors. The project also offers motorists an option to get out of their vehicles to help improve air quality in communities suffering from hazardous air quality.

All K Line stations include artwork commissioned through the agency’s Metro Art program. Artists were selected through an open, competitive selection process following the recommendation of a panel of community-based arts professionals. Artworks commissioned for the Martin L. King, Jr. station include porcelain enamel panels by Eileen Cowin, a glass pavilion by Mara Lonner and a mosaic mural by Shinique Smith.

“Community input was critical to Metro’s success on this project,” said L.A. Metro CEO Stephanie N. Wiggins. “The K Line was designed to connect people to opportunity and because of the community’s active participation in the design and construction process, Metro is delivering a rail line that will be well used, well-loved and will help the community thrive.”