Credit: www.envisioninglewood.com

The Metro Board of Directors on Thursday approved a Master Cooperative Agreement (MCA) with the City of Inglewood for the city’s Inglewood Transit Connector Project, a 1.6-mile people mover connecting the Metro K Line to the region’s newest sports and entertainment venues, including the Kia Forum, SoFi Stadium, Intuit Dome (the Clippers future home), as well as South Los Angeles’ emerging housing and commercial centers.

The people mover will have three stations and travel along an elevated guideway. The route will use Market Street, Manchester Boulevard and Prairie Avenue. The people mover will improve transit access and mobility for residents and visitors to Inglewood and connect popular venues to the Metro Rail system.

Metro and the City of Inglewood have established – via a Joint Powers Authority – a collaborative and cooperative single-purpose entity dedicated to overseeing the design, construction, financing, operations and maintenance of the project. Riders will be able to transfer between the lines, using a pedestrian bridge between the K Line’s Downtown Inglewood Station and the ITC’s Market Street/Florence Avenue station.

The project is expected to break ground in 2024, with completion expected in 2028.

At present, Metro runs a bus shuttle between the C Line’s Hawthorne/Lennox Station and SoFi Stadium for NFL games and a few other events. A bus shuttle is also planned to run between SoFi and the K Line. The people mover project will make it possible to move more people faster and reach more destinations.

The project will allow trains to travel in both directions so that several trains could run at once, moving up to 11,000 passengers an hour.

The three proposed stations are:

•The Market Street/Florence Avenue Station will be located between Market Street and Locust Street providing connections to the Metro K Line and Downtown Inglewood.

•The Prairie Avenue/Manchester Boulevard Station will be on the southwest corner of the intersection of Prairie Avenue and Manchester Boulevard and will provide service to the Forum, the LASED at Hollywood Park, SoFi Stadium and existing and future local businesses and residences.

The Prairie Avenue/Hardy Street Station will be on the northwest corner of the intersection of Prairie Avenue and Hardy Street and will provide service to the LASED at Hollywood Park, SoFi Stadium, and other existing and future local businesses and residences.

The City of Inglewood is the fastest growing in Los Angeles County, with 13 percent growth in the last year. The City’s rapid economic revitalization and historic transformation, along with additional projected increases in population, housing, and employment density, is one reason the City and Metro are working to improve mobility in Inglewood.

For more information on the Inglewood Transit Connector Project, please visit www.envisioninglewood.org.

QUOTES

“The Inglewood Transit Connector project will make it easy to reach popular destinations via transit – which is especially important as more world-class events are held in Inglewood – including the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympic games,” said City of Glendale Council Member and Metro Chair Board Ara J. Najarian. “The project will help reduce gridlock experienced during major events and provide a great alternative to the hassles of driving and parking. This is a win-win situation for all of us.”

“The Inglewood Transit Connector is one of regional significance and is a critical component of the City of Inglewood’s incredible transformation,” said City of Inglewood Mayor and Metro Board Member James T. Butts. “Besides improving transit access and mobility for residents, the project will galvanize the revitalization and historic transformation of downtown Inglewood and create a seamless connection to the City’s premier sports and entertainment venues, as well as housing and commercial centers, destinations that are putting thousands of Angelenos to work and attracting millions of visitors from across the County, nation and globe.”

“With today’s action, we continue to make progress on the Inglewood Transit Connector as an important feature of our transit future,” said L.A. County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Holly J. Mitchell. “Through improved mobility and accessibility, transit has the power to strengthen outcomes in underinvested communities and support economic revitalization and redevelopment.”

“The Inglewood Transit Connector will provide a valuable first/last mile connection to the K Line and give Metro customers a fast and easy way to get from our expansive rail network to some of our region’s premier sports and live entertainment destinations,” said Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins.

“We must solve ‘the first/last mile challenge’ by making sure our transit system succeeds at getting people exactly where they need and want to go,” said Inglewood City Councilmember Eloy Morales. “We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Metro to not end transit service in Downtown Inglewood, but rather create a robust and seamless connection for residents, employees and visitors to Inglewood’s premier destinations and housing centers. The Inglewood Transit Connector is key to fulfilling that vision.”