North Canon Drive will remain closed at Wilshire Boulevard for an additional five and a half months following a vote taken by the Beverly Hills City Council at its Sept. 9 meeting.
The street will reopen by March 14, 2026.
The 4-1 vote, in which Vice Mayor John Mirisch dissented, was taken following a request for an extension on the closure from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Metro is doing construction work on the Purple (D) Line Extension at the intersection.
The temporary closure of North Canon Drive was initially approved by the council in July 2018 to mitigate construction impacts. Following that vote, a temporary sound wall was installed to block the construction area from the public.
In the ensuing years, the council approved six extensions of the temporary street closure, most recently in November 2024. That extension would have ended on Sept. 30.
According to a staff report, if the street closure and sound wall were removed prior to March 2026, two rounds of construction would need to occur on North Canon Drive. The first would be for temporary street restoration and early reopening of the road, and the second would be for permanent restoration.
Alternatively, by approving the extension, the council allowed for permanent restoration work to commence in the beginning of 2026, including the removal of the sound wall and restoring sidewalks.
During public comment at the Sept. 9 meeting, Dar Mahboubi, a prominent Rodeo Drive real estate developer and business owner, expressed frustration over the requested extension and Metro’s timeline.
“The Metro, with their construction activities, have caused great pain and inconvenience to all residents of Beverly Hills and have caused irreparable interruption to the businesses located in the Beverly Hills triangle,” he said, adding that the construction has been “grossly mismanaged.”
Mayor Sharona Nazarian acknowledged the irritation of business owners.
“I am fully well aware of the pain and the frustration that this has caused, and the inconvenience to our businesses,” she said. “Metro is unfortunately not being managed as well as could be … but we really don’t have much say.”
Other members of the council debated whether the city was giving in to Metro’s demands or doing what is best for local residents and businesses.
“This council … doesn’t want to help Metro unless it helps the city of Beverly Hills, and we’ve always taken every request with that in mind,” said Councilmember Lester Friedman, adding, “We don’t give in to whatever Metro wants.”
Mirisch equated the council’s actions to “begging.”
“It sounds like we were just willing to give them whatever they wanted … it just seems that we’re afraid to try and negotiate with them, or even to play hardball,” he said. “So, my feeling is that we can try and rationalize for ourselves why this is good, but ultimately this is much better for MTA.”
Noting that repeated closures and reopenings would impact the area, and that a new business catering to young children is slated to move in, Nazarian emphasized her commitment to safety.
“You know, it’s not an ideal situation,” she said. “At the end of the day, it’s here, and we want to be able to create transportation. My only hope is that we create the safest environment possible, both on the Metro as well as the space outside of the Metro.”
Under the agreement approved by the council, no further extensions will be considered beyond March 14, 2026. Metro has agreed to pay $20,000 per day if the deadline for reopening is not met.
Construction on the Metro station is expected to be mostly complete by the summer of 2026, with the station tentatively slated to open late that year.
