Beverly Hills Already Has a Subway Stop. The One Near Rodeo Is Still a Season Away.

Below Wilshire Boulevard at La Cienega, riders going down to the platform pass a work by Todd Gray called Mining the Archive: S. Charles Lee, Architect. It draws on archival drawings of the Saban Theatre, which opened as the Fox Wilshire and was designed by Lee. The theater stands at 8440 Wilshire, a short walk from the station. The station also has works by Mariana Castillo Deball and Soo Kim. Together they make the city's first subway stop look like it belongs to Beverly Hills.

That stop is at the city's eastern edge. The station closer to Rodeo Drive is still under construction. In August the City Council turned down the shuttle that would have linked the rest of town to either station. For this season, then, the subway is a convenience for one corner of Beverly Hills, and the city has chosen to wait until the second station opens before deciding how to connect everyone else.

The station that works today is at La Cienega

Metro's D Line Extension Section 1 opened on May 8, 2026, adding stations at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega. The Beverly Hills Courier reported a 22-minute trip from Beverly Hills to Union Station on opening day.

The line drew riders quickly. Metro reported that in May 2026, D Line ridership was up 62% from a year earlier and weekend ridership was nearly 80% higher. Metro estimated that the three new stations brought 8,000 to 10,000 new riders per day. Those figures cover the whole line, though, and the effect at street level was smaller. Three weeks after opening, the Courier reported that businesses near the station had seen little change in foot traffic.

The station also had a recent pause. Metro closed the Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega stations from 2 a.m. Friday, Oct. 23, to 4 a.m. Monday, Nov. 2, for maintenance. Line 855 shuttles ran every 10 minutes to Wilshire/Western, and Metro Lines 20 and 720 kept running on Wilshire, according to the Beverly Press. At the station, riders can also transfer to Metro's 105 bus on La Cienega, and bike lockers are provided.

Metro's own neighborhood guide lists what is within walking distance on the Beverly Hills side. Metro also calls the station the entry point to Restaurant Row and names the original Lawry's The Prime Rib. For dining, the guide lists Bombay Palace Beverly Hills, Boss Sushi, Continental Kitchen, Gourmando, Prospect Gourmand and Series A Coffee. Nearby studios include Bodyline Pilates, Hot 8 Yoga and Pure Barre Beverly Hills. The Saban is the anchor for evenings out. Its published calendar includes Broadway Showstoppers on Nov. 14 and the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles in A Very Dolly Holiday on Dec. 12 and 13. Check the Saban's event listings before you go, since live calendars can change.

Two stops east, a museum season

For someone who lives near La Cienega, the best use of the line this fall is the two-stop ride to Wilshire/Fairfax. Metro lists LACMA, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the Petersen Automotive Museum, Craft Contemporary and the La Brea Tar Pits as steps from that station. Two of this season's LACMA exhibitions are about residential architecture and design.

The LACMA show on the architect Paul R. Williams opens Nov. 15. Visiting a show about him and Home of the Future in the same afternoon, without parking on Wilshire, is a good use of the new line. The Academy Museum is a block away for anyone who wants to stay longer.

The Golden Triangle gets the construction first

The second Beverly Hills station is now called Beverly Dr, after earlier plans used the name Wilshire/Rodeo. Metro's October 2026 community-meeting presentation forecasts operations for it and the Century City/Constellation station in spring 2027. The same document notes that the schedule is subject to change. The City of Beverly Hills says the entrance is planned for the southwest side of Wilshire at Reeves Drive, with access toward the Golden Triangle and Rodeo Drive.

Until that opens, Wilshire through the business district is still a work zone. The Beverly Press reported on Oct. 21 that the center lanes between Crescent and Reeves were closed to build a landscaped median. Two lanes stayed open in each direction. Equipment delivery, utility work and concrete pours were scheduled through Oct. 30 between Carson Road and Willaman Drive. Metro's Oct. 14 presentation described a phase with one lane each way between Crescent and Beverly, so the lane count depends on which stage of work is underway. The same presentation lists tree planting and restoration on South Wilshire, work in the alley near The Maybourne, and sidewalk and curb-ramp repairs between El Camino and Rodeo.

The restoration is also visible farther west. Instrumentation removal, utility work and street maintenance continue on Wilshire between Carson Road and San Vicente Boulevard, with intermittent off-peak lane closures. Left turns from Wilshire onto residential side streets and San Vicente may be restricted. In Century City, a sidewalk closure on the south side of Constellation Boulevard and the west side of Avenue of the Stars runs through Jan. 18.

The landscaped median is the first permanent piece of the finished street that residents can see. Most of what remains is underground, but this median is what Wilshire near Reeves will look like once the station opens.

The city decided to wait for the second station

The Wilshire/La Cienega station is a long walk from most Beverly Hills homes, so the obvious gap is the trip between home and the platform. The city had a plan for it. On May 5, 2026, staff presented the City Council with a two-year microtransit pilot operated by Via Transportation. It proposed on-demand service seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., covering all of Beverly Hills, the D Line stations on Wilshire and the Cedars-Sinai area. The fleet would have been four electric vehicles seating seven to 10 passengers each, plus a spare.

The Council rejected the pilot on Aug. 4. The Beverly Press reported that members questioned whether a citywide pilot made sense before the next Metro station opens and without clearer data on long-term costs. It quoted Mayor Craig Corman: "The most we could possibly get would be four years of cost neutrality then it goes into the red." In the same session, the mayor said the city would not move forward with the pilot at that time, would keep Dial-A-Ride, and would revisit the idea in a year or two. Council members also discussed a smaller option, such as a fixed route during morning and evening peak hours with Dial-A-Ride in between, but did not adopt it.

The city does not expect new parking to fill the gap. Its station FAQ says Metro is not planning parking structures at either Beverly Hills station and expects riders to use existing parking within a half-mile.

Taken together, these decisions show how the city is pacing itself. It is not committing to a citywide connection until spring 2027, when the Beverly Dr station opens near the city's center. Until then, the subway is a walk-up option for blocks near La Cienega. For everyone else it is a destination to drive or ride to.

The calendar from here to spring 2027

1. Monday, Nov. 2: The three Section 1 stations, including Wilshire/La Cienega, were scheduled to reopen at 4 a.m. after the maintenance closure.
2. Friday, Nov. 6, 10 p.m., to Monday, Nov. 9, 5 a.m.: The southbound 405 on-ramp and off-ramp to eastbound Wilshire close for a full 55-hour weekend.
3. Friday, Nov. 13, 10 p.m., to Monday, Nov. 16, 5 a.m.: The same ramps close for a second weekend.
4. Saturday, Nov. 14: Broadway Showstoppers at the Saban Theatre.
5. Sunday, Nov. 15: Paul R. Williams: Architect for Living opens at LACMA, two stops from La Cienega.
6. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 12 and 13: GMCLA's A Very Dolly Holiday at the Saban.
7. Monday, Jan. 18: The scheduled end of the Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars sidewalk closure in Century City.
8. Spring 2027: Metro's current forecast for the Beverly Dr and Century City stations.

The blocks around Wilshire and Reeves will change in practical ways once a station entrance opens there. If you would like to understand how a specific property near the corridor sits relative to either station, Gary Glass Estates can walk you through it. Request a Private Showing.