Clippers, Rams owners oppose Inglewood shuttle as $2.4 billion project fails

Plans for a 1.7-mile shuttle proposal that would drop off Los Angeles train passengers at the foot of SoFi Stadium were upended after South Bay cities rejected a request for $493 million more to build the project, endangering billion dollars of federal funding.

He 2.4 billion dollars The elevated rail line that Inglewood Mayor James Butts hoped to have open before the 2028 Olympics is supposed to glide over downtown and attract tourists. But its rising cost and design changes have made it difficult to sell.

Initial support from Rams owner Stan Kroenke and Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who have invested billions to make the Los Angeles suburb a entertainment giant and been an ally of Butts, faded this year after designs emerged showing railroad construction would run through his property line. And the expected years-long construction and loss of a street lane outside the concert halls soured them.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, another early supporter, recently opposed the “waste,” saying that It wasn’t worth the money.

On Thursday night, a divided South Bay Cities group Governing Councila joint power authority of 16 cities that distributes money from Measurement R and Measurement Mtwo local half-cent sales tax measures for transit projects, rejected Butts’ request to cover the funding gap needed to pay for the project.

“Our city and all these cities that voted no. We get nothing,” said John Cruikshank, mayor of Rancho Palos Verdes, who objected to the high cost, along with leaders from El Segundo, Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Lawndale, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estate, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills. Goods and Torrance.

“We’ve already funded a lot of this,” he said. “They were asking for even more. And for me, I just can’t see us giving more. “It’s going to leave us breathless.”

The vote marked an important turning point for Butts, who rebuilt Inglewood and defied the odds by creating a joint powers authority and rallying official support and funding for the project in four years, a relatively short time in the world of transportation planning. And while there is still time to seek other funding, the reality that the project will happen before the Olympics is fading.

Before the vote, Butts said “the game would be over” if Inglewood couldn’t get the funding. But then he appeared to take evasive action.

“I’m not giving up anything, but I’m realistic,” he said. “It was rejected. So, for all intents and purposes, that’s it.”

Butts had sold the project as a “first- and last-mile connector” to SoFi Stadium, the Intuit Dome, the Hollywood Park development, downtown Inglewood and other places, arguing it would draw people to Metro rail lines and solve congestion during games, concerts and other large events.

The three-stop people mover would connect to the K Line, creating a broader transportation network for the growing rail system being built by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. But opponents say it displaces businesses in downtown Inglewood and that it would be cheaper and more efficient to create dedicated bus lanes to and from the entertainment district.

The South Bay group has already committed $358 million to the Inglewood Transit Connector and more funding would have required them to create exceptions to their own rules that limit Measure R funding for any project to $250 million. Its previous round of funding avoided that limit by splitting the cost between the two Measures.

“There are no unlimited dollars,” CEO Jacki Bacharach told the board. He said Inglewood already receives about 35% of Measure R funds and this would have taken it to more than half.

Paying to complete the Inglewood Transportation Connector would take resources away from other South Bay projects and would be roughly equal to the average cost of 125 to 175 city projects, such as intersection improvements, bike lanes and signal synchronization, he told the board.

The application would have created a complex financing structure and modified the group’s financing rules. Butts called for reprogramming money earmarked for highway projects and creating a recovery mechanism funded through a special tax district.

But its biggest obstacle ultimately came from its early supporters, who have poured billions of dollars into the Los Angeles suburb, turning it into an entertainment giant.

“We don’t plan to give up any land for free,” said Gerard McCallum II, senior project manager for Ballmer and Kroenke. “Why? Because it threatens future development. It threatens our parking. It threatens everything about these companies.”

In a letter to Butts, Ballmer said construction of the Transit Connector could jeopardize some of the largest sporting events to be held.

“With upcoming international events scheduled to come to Inglewood in the coming years, including the Super Bowl, World Cup, NBA All-Star Game and the Olympic Games, the proposal to partially close Prairie Avenue and Manchester for at least 36 months for construction, the loss of access to our entrances, the destruction of our communications and utility infrastructure throughout Prairie, and the reduction of lanes, all of this means that local businesses and guests attending events will be significantly affected,” he wrote.

Butts told the board that construction plans had not changed since the sports giants gave their original support. Prairie Avenue, where the connector is proposed to pass and which is the main route to SoFi, YouTube Theatre, Intuit Dome and Kia Forum, will not be closed, he said.

“There will be a rolling closure of some lanes during the construction period,” he said. “By the time the Olympics come, whether the train is operational or not, construction will be complete.”

Representatives from Los Angeles, Carson and Redondo Beach voted in favor of the project, along with the offices of two county supervisors representing the South Bay, who sit on Metro’s board of directors with Butts.

Metro Board Chair and Supervisor Janice Hahn said funding the Transportation Connector would not jeopardize other South Bay projects, and that backtracking could send a bad message to Washington in the future.

“When we come together as a region and support a project, it sends a huge message,” he said. “They’re sending it to a region that can work together and support each other, and that makes a difference for future funding.”