Inglewood is reviving a proposal to build an automated people mover to connect Metro riders and other visitors to SoFi Stadium, the Intuit Dome and its entertainment venues.
The City Council on Tuesday approved a $34 million contract with Elevate Inglewood Partners to reassess the scope of the “Inglewood Transit Connector” project, including the number of stations needed and the technology that will be used. The revived ITC is now proposed to develop in multiple phases, with the first focusing on establishing more parking and shuttle services that will use dedicated bus lanes to connect visitors to the venues during the 2028 Olympics.
“With the world watching us as we prepare to host the Olympics, we’re also looking inward — listening to our community and taking strategic steps to deliver on what matters most to the people who live and work here,” Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. said in a statement. “This updated and phased approach to the ITC is our response to what we’ve heard: a desire for traffic relief and improved quality of life, connected and walkable neighborhoods, and a revitalized downtown reflecting Inglewood’s existing vibrant culture.”
The project will start with a revitalization of Market Street in Inglewood’s downtown with “improved storefront and tenant-friendly improvements” and several “mobility hubs with convenient access from the Metro K and C lines,” according to the city’s announcement. The city plans to use smart traffic signal sychronization, upgraded sidewalks and bus-only lanes to reduce congestion in the near future and will avoid construction disruptions on Prairie Avenue before and during the Olympics.
The proposed first phase will “preserve the option for a high-capacity automated people mover designed to serve the long-term growth of the City” following the Olympics.
An earlier version of the project, estimated to cost more than $2 billion, died last year after it failing to secure the necessary funding.
The new proposal for the ITC will reduce the number of businesses needing to relocate to make space for the people mover’s stations and tracks from 44 to 23, according to the city. Each impacted business will receive “robust relocation support, supplemental grants and promotional assistance,” officials pledged.
The revised proposal imagines at least two “mobility hubs” — one at Market Street and Florence Avenue and the other at Hillcrest Boulevard and La Brea Avenue — with above-grade parking and a bus rotary where visitors can hitch a ride to SoFi, Intuit and other venues on event days.
Inglewood previously hoped to get the people mover in place before the 2028 Olympics, but rising costs and funding snags dragged the project to a halt last year. The 1.6-mile transit system was first pitched in 2019 at a cost of $600 million.
The project faced some powerful opposition last time.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, once a supporter, came out against the project last year and pushed to have $200 million in funding earmarked for the project excised from the federal budget. Waters argued the project would displace longtime businesses and did not provide enough benefits to residents to justify the price tag.
She instead advocated for shuttle buses that could “accomplish the same goal at a fraction of the cost.”
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Waters did not respond to a request to comment about the revived project.
The final nail in the coffin for the previous iteration of the ITC came in October, when the South Bay Cities Council of Governments rejected a request for $493 million necessary to secure another $1 billion in federal grants.
Inglewood now will have to work out new funding as construction costs continue to rise in California.
The city’s announcement states the newly proposed multiphased approach to the project already has the support of the California State Transportation Agency, L.A. Metro and Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, D-Inglewood.