People mover would connect the Crenshaw/LAX Line with SoFi Stadium, Intuit Dome
By Dolores Quintana
The Inglewood City Council has approved the construction of the Inglewood Transit Connector (ITC), which is a monorail style train that would connect the Metro Crenshaw’s Downtown Inglewood Station to both SoFi Stadium and Intuit Dome, which will be the future stadium that will be the new home to the Los Angeles Clippers as reported by Urbanize Los Angeles. This new project would link the City of Inglewood with these two properties downtown.
Inglewood Mayor James Butts said in a statement, as quoted by Urbanize Los Angeles, “The ITC will help make our Metro system accessible to all and work as it’s intended to work: it will take people where they want to go, and it will incorporate the real needs of our community. Throughout this process, we have actively engaged with the community to develop a first-last mile solution that; reduces greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on single-passenger vehicles; improves air quality throughout the City and the region, and creates lasting job opportunities for Inglewood residents.”
The route of the ITC would stretch 1.6 miles and the automated electric vehicles would run along an elevated viaduct over Market Street and Manchester and Prairie Avenues. The plans for the ITC also include stops at Manchester Avenue and Hardy Avenue along with the northern terminus of the line that is near the Crenshaw line.
The construction of the ITC should create 700 construction jobs and as many as 10,000 jobs that would be indirectly connected to the construction of the ITC itself. $328 million in funding has already been secured for the project and the federal environmental review process could make this project eligible for additional funding sources.
The construction of the ITC line is projected to take 46 months and take place between January 2024 and November 2027. The construction is expected to be complete before the 2028 Summer Olympic Games 2028.
The ITC’s schedule is to run the trains every six minutes with services as frequent as every two minutes during peak times like during NFL games. The estimates of possible ridership project that up to 414 passengers could be using the system during the peak weekday hours and up to 11,450 passengers could use the ITC during NFL games.
