MTA to Add N. Hollywood Subway Station Parking

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to pave an empty lot adjacent to the North Hollywood subway station to ease chronic parking shortages.

Since the subway station opened in June, the 847-space lot has been filled by midday. MTA officials initially refused to consider additional parking, saying motorists should find other ways to get to the subway.

The agency did restripe the existing lot, adding 72 spaces, before finally caving in to pressure from frustrated commuters. It now plans to use one of several empty lots nearby to increase parking by 25%.

Red Line riders were relieved at the news as they hunted Friday for parking spaces.

“It will help,” said Lorenzo Guzman, 20, after circling the Lankershim Boulevard lot for 10 minutes. But, he said, it won’t be enough: “They should build a two-story structure. This isn’t going to cut it.”

In August, county supervisor and MTA board member Zev Yaroslavsky initially said limited parking would change commuting behavior by encouraging people to use buses to get to the subway.

On Friday, however, he applauded the move to provide more parking.

But he said meeting the demand will still be a challenge. “I hope we encourage people over time to use public transport, but we can’t withhold parking to get them to do it,” he said.

MTA officials say they do not want the North Hollywood station to become a giant parking lot. There are ambitious but unrealized plans for new retail and housing development in the neighborhood.

But in the meantime, the MTA is expected to approve a plan next week to pave over and add lights to 2.6 acres it owns across the street from the station.

Motorists will have to be patient. The MTA said it expects the $352,000 project, which will add 220 spaces, won’t be ready for two to three months.

And agency officials caution that the lot won’t be permanent.

Parking at the Universal City station is also at capacity. Restriping added 39 spots to what was a 312-space lot, said MTA spokesman Ed Scannell. In addition, the agency expects to add another 39 spaces within the next few weeks.