$493M Needed For Transit Project To SoFi, Intuit Stadiums Rejected By Coalition Of Cities
A Thursday night vote denied the Inglewood Transit Connector the funding it needs to move forward and cast doubt on the future of the project that would link light rail in Inglewood to two of the city's sparkling new professional sports venues.
The South Bay Cities Council of Governments — a 16-city entity that oversees revenue from Measure R and Measure M, sales tax measures that raised funding for transportation projects — voted against a request from Inglewood Mayor James Butts to close a major funding gap and award the project $493M, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“We’ve funded a huge portion of this already,” said John Cruikshank, mayor of Rancho Palos Verdes. “They were asking for even more. And to me, I just can’t see us giving any more. It’s going to tap us out."
Cruikshank, along with leadership from El Segundo, Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Lawndale, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates and Torrance objected to the massive price tag of the project, according to the Times. The transit connector, also called the people mover project, would link Hollywood Park and the new Clippers arena to the existing K light rail line and create a 1.7-mile connection to the county's massive transportation system.
The South Bay Cities Council of Governments vote also means the $1B of federal funding awarded in January for the $2.4B project may be on the line.
The SBCCG already awarded $358M to the Inglewood Transit Connector. Giving any more to the project “would have required them to create exceptions to their own rules that cap Measure R funding to any one project to $250 million,” the LAT reported.
Rams owner Stan Kroenke and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who together have invested billions in building up Inglewood and installed professional sports venues in the city, were once big supporters of the project. But earlier this year, their support waned as designs for the elevated rail line revealed that it would cross into their properties, the LAT reported. There were also concerns that construction for the project would negatively impact their venues.
