Five months after a legal setback, Metro and the backers of the controversial plan to link Dodger Stadium to Union Station with a gondola system are once again pushing forward.

Earlier this year, the California Court of Appeals ordered Metro to prepare a new environmental study to evaluate potential construction noise impacts from the project. The transportation agency has done just that, with the release of a supplemental environmental impact report on September 19.

Proposed route of the Union Station - Dodger Stadium gondolaAerial Rapid Transit Technologies

The more than $500-million gondola project - which has faced opposition from residents in the Chinatown community and the California Endowment - is proposed by Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit (LA ART), an entity backed by former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, who still controls the parking lots surrounding the team's stadium. However, ownership and future operations of the project have been turned over to Zero Emissions Transit, an non-profit organization created by Climate Resolve.

Plans adopted by Metro, and ordered set aside pending further review by court order, call for the construction of a roughly 1.2-mile gondola system running north from Union Station on cables suspended more than 100 feet above Alameda Street. The gondola would make an intermediate stop next to Metro's Chinatown Station and Los Angeles State Historic Park, then veer west above Bishops Road toward Dodger Stadium.

View of station on Alameda Street next to Olvera StreetLos Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit

According to the environmental report, the proposed gondola system could ferry up to 5,000 passengers per hour in each direction - or 10,000 in total - with an end-to-end trip time of approximately seven minutes. 

Construction of the gondola would take approximately 25 months to complete. 

View of gondola next to Chinatown Station and Los Angeles State Historic ParkLos Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit

LA ART had hoped to fast-track construction of the gondola system with a legislative assist from Sacramento, where the project was set to benefit from a bill fast-tracking legal challenges against high-value projects. However, provisions benefiting the gondola were stripped from the final version of the bill after protest.

Besides the legal challenges, the project also faces opposition from City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, whose district includes Dodger Stadium and the adjacent Chinatown community. In early 2024, she introduced a motion calling for the City of Los Angeles to suspend any work on the gondola project pending further study of transportation to and from the stadium.

View of station at Dodger StadiumLos Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit

Even without the gondola, other avenues to improving access to Dodger Stadium are under consideration, including upgrades to pedestrian corridors from Echo Park and Chinatown and bus lanes along Sunset Boulevard to build off of the successful Dodger Stadium Express offered on game days.

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