Long Beach may soon have only one station named after it on the Metro system.
A motion to rename the Long Beach Boulevard station on the C (Green) Line to Lynwood station, the city it resides in, will be put to a vote before the Metro Board of Directors on Thursday.
Los Angeles County Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn made the motion at last Thursday’s Executive Management Committee meeting.
“Navigating Metro should be easy. But confusing names—like having both a Long Beach Blvd Station and a Downtown Long Beach Station—make that difficult for residents and visitors alike,” Hahn said in a statement posted on social media. “With the Olympics and the World Cup coming up, now is the perfect time to fix this problem.”
The Long Beach Blvd. station in Lynwood sits roughly four miles from the far northern reaches of Long Beach. This has led to confusion among riders who exit the Metro at the Long Beach Boulevard station thinking they have arrived in Long Beach, according to Hahn’s office.
Riders on the C (Green) Line need to transfer to the A (Blue) Line at Willowbrook/Rosa Parks, one station to the west, to access Long Beach.
Lynwood Councilmember Juan Muñoz-Guevara has been pushing for the change as Metro works to create new signage, maps and timetables in time for the opening of the LAX/Metro Transit Center Station later this year.
The C (Green) Line will serve as the main east/west connection to the LAX/Metro Transit Center Station.
“Part of creating more ridership is creating an identity for our station,” Muñoz-Guevara said during public comment at Thursday’s Metro Board of Directors meeting. “The current station name no longer accurately represents Lynwood.”
If the motion is approved, Metro will update station signs, platform displays and digital information systems to reflect the new name, according to Hahn’s office.