INGLEWOOD – The city of Inglewood was awarded $407 million towards the Inglewood Transit Connector project from state surplus funds on Jan. 31.
“Today’s award supporting the Inglewood Transit Connector will be transformative not just for the City of Inglewood, but for communities throughout the South Bay and Los Angeles County,” said Asm. Tina McKinnor, who represents Inglewood in the state legislature.
The announcement came from the California State Transportation Agency that detailed awards were made for several projects.
The city applied for $407 million from the state’s surplus under the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) program on Dec. 6.
“The funding is critical to ensuring that the Project has the required 50% non-federal match to the Capital Investment New Starts program being pursued through the Federal Transit Administration, and moreover, fully funding the project.”
The funding will no doubt trigger a federal match in order to construct the 1.6 mile transit connector that will connect riders from the Crenshaw/LAX rail line to the Inglewood Sports and Entertainment District in time for the 2028 Olympics.
“We received $423 million in an allocation of Measure R funds, and today we received a critical $407 million grant and I can’t tell you how important it was as this is the amount in our federal application,” said Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. when he announced the award during the Jan. 31 city council meeting. “If we didn’t get it our dream of being a leader in the country, forwarding a mass transportation project of this caliber, would have died somewhat, but this keeps the dream alive.”
“I want to congratulate the staff, Trifiletti Consulting, and thank the council for the confidence they’ve given to me as CEO…we voted on the big things and are now one step away,” said Butts. “There were only three grants awarded and Inglewood was one of them.”
“On behalf of the City of Inglewood and our community, I want to thank the State of California for this generous investment and support of our program which is instrumental in making this project a reality,” said Councilman Alex Padilla. “This is certainly going to benefit not only Inglewood, but the region at-large, in the years to come.”
Inglewood will now apply for a Capital Investment Grant through the Federal Transportation Authority, which if approved, will provide the remaining funds necessary to move into construction.
One resident remains skeptical in believing the federal funds will be a slam dunk.
“The Republicans control Washington now and with Biden having to re-nominate the former CEO of Metro to the Federal Aviation Administration and former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s ambassadorship to India still on hold, it will be interesting to see if they dole out nearly a half a billion dollars for a transit project with a route shorter than a full trip around Disneyland,” said Marvin McCoy.
Once the City applies for the federal match, they won’t know if its awarded until the end of this year.
This project will displace at nearly dozens of small businesses and potentially residents living in multi-family residential units along the proposed transit route.
Inglewood has set a March 14 public hearing at 2 p.m. to adopt a relocation plan in accordance with state and federal guidelines for those along the proposed route who will be impacted.