By Emilie St. John
Contributing Writer
INGLEWOOD — In the same week the City Council awarded a contract to a public-private partnership to build the Inglewood Transit Connector, a key elected official withdrew her support for the project.
The city selected Elevate Inglewood Partners, comprised of Plenary Americas US Holdings (equity member), Tutor Perini Corporation (lead contractor), Parsons Corporation (lead designer), Woojin Industrial System Co. (automated transit system operator and supplier), and Alternate Concepts (lead operations and maintenance contractor) to construct the 1.6-mile people mover that will link the K Line with the city’s major sports and entertainment facilities including SoFi Stadium, the Kia Forum, YouTube Theater and the Inuit Dome.
But U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, who represents Inglewood in Congress, announced July 17 that she was no longer supporting the project.
According to Waters, the project doesn’t serve Inglewood residents but rather the billionaire owners of the venues located inside the Inglewood Sports and Entertainment District — Intuit Dome, Kia Forum, SoFi Stadium and YouTube Theater.
“It will not provide convenient connectivity to employment or public services for local residents,” she said. “The ITC is designed primarily to allow public transit users to connect the extra 1.6 miles from Metro’s K Line to sports and entertainment venues. Shuttle buses could most likely accomplish the same goal at a fraction of the cost, but have not been seriously considered as an alternative.”
Waters sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeg a letter saying money being spent on the transit connector would be “better spent on programs that improve access to affordable housing.”
The Transportation Department had agreed to spend $1 billion — about half the estimated cost of the project — but after Waters’ letter was received by members of the House appropriations subcommittee, Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas, who chairs the committee, removed $200 million from a draft budget bill that would have gone for the connector project.
Waters letter blindsided Inglewood Mayor James Butts Jr., the biggest promoter of the transit connector project.
“You can’t come in at the 11th hour with a little fairy tale story about how something is so terrible,” Butts told the Los Angeles Times, calling Waters’ letter “ill-conceived.”
“Who would lobby against a project that will go on for five to six years and provide prevailing wage jobs for 17,000 people?”
Prior to learning of Waters’ letter, Butts called the City Council’s awarding the contract “another key milestone in the process to make this transformative investment in our city a reality.”
Waters isn’t the first person to question the transit connector project. Earlier this year, Jeff Davis, a senior fellow at the Eno Center for Transportation, a nonprofit that specializes in traffic management, estimated that the project would cost $470,000 per estimated daily rider, far more than other federally funded transit projects. He said the project was biong fast-tracked for the Olympics and said stadium owners could bear more of the financial responsibility.
“The project is less about connecting underserved neighborhoods than it is about connecting the new Rams stadium and the adjacent office and entertainment complex,” he wrote in March.
The city has partnered with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Butts serves on the Board of Directors) to establish the Inglewood Transit Connector Joint Powers Authority which will oversee the design, construction, operations, and maintenance of the project.
The city also has committed to contributing $10 million towards the annual maintenance and operation costs of the connectors. It has not been made public if the owners of the entertainment and sports venues will contribute toward those costs.
The city had hoped to start construction next year despite concerns that over three dozen businesses will be displaced by the project and that they haven’t fully addressed issues with the owners.
The transit connector project has earned praise from other elected officials.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the project would “provide major benefits to our region by improving transportation and creating good-paying jobs.”
Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor said, “In addition to the environmental benefits, the ITC will foster continued economic revitalization in the city’s historic downtown area, create growth opportunities for transit-oriented development, and support affordable housing along the project alignment in the city.”
Emilie St. John is a freelance journalist covering the areas of Carson, Compton, Inglewood and Willowbrook. Send tips to her at emiliesaintjohn@gmail.com.
