A recirculated draft environmental impact report reveals changes - and a revised timeline - to the proposed automated people mover system that would connect the Crenshaw/LAX Line's Downtown Inglewood Station to SoFi Stadium and the future home of the Los Angeles Clippers.
The monorail-like system, announced by Inglewood city officials in 2018, would run from a property located across the street from the Downtown Inglewood Metro station, then proceed south on a 1.6-mile elevated guideway, meandering along Market Street and Manchester Avenue, and Prairie Avenue, with stops located at Manchester Avenue and Hardy Avenue.
While the revised design for the people mover retains the same route and technology from the original plan, several key revisions have resulted from community feedback. These include changes to the proposed maintenance and storage facility off of Manchester, which has been retooled to allow a Vons supermarket to remain on the site in a new building. The revised plan also reduces to the number of support columns proposed along the route.
The updated design for the people mover is also accompanied by a updated timeline. While construction was originally anticipated to occur over a 45-month period between 2022 and 2026, the revised project is expected to be built over a period of 46 months between January 2024 and November 2027.
The people mover is expected to employ driverless vehicles operating on normal headways of six minutes, with service running as frequently as every two minutes during NFL events.
Ridership estimates forecast that up to 414 passengers would use the system during weekday peak-hour conditions, with up to 11,450 passengers using the people mover during NFL events.
As of early 2021, Inglewood had identified more than $380 million in funding for the project out of a total budget in excess of $1 billion. At the time, Inglewood Mayor James Butts told Urbanize that a potential federal infrastructure bill could provide sufficient funding to complete the people mover.
The project, which will function as a feederto the Crenshaw/LAX Line, will connect Inglewood's historic downtown with new destinations at the Hollywood Park complex - including offices, housing, and the new home of two NFL teams - and the $1.2-billion arena now rising on Century Boulevard that will one day house the Los Angeles Clippers.
- Inglewood Automated People Mover (Urbanize LA)