Inglewood breaks ground on major transit connector project

Inglewood officials broke ground Wednesday morning on the first phase of its upcoming Inglewood Transit Connector, launching the construction of three transportation hubs and a pedestrian bridge to the Metro K Line. The mission: Transform the downtown streetscape to make it more pedestrian friendly and ease traffic congestion — especially on big-event days.

City councilmembers, state and regional officials and development partners symbolically shoveled the first scoops of dirt on from the ground in the parking lot where the largest mobility hub, at Market Street and Florence Avenue, will rise.

The hub will replace the existing shopping and restaurant plaza at that intersection, which includes a mix of shuttered businesses and such still-open sites as CVS, DD’s Discounts, Randy’s Donuts and Chinese Food, Inglewood Optometric Center and Advance America.

Construction is set to begin next month on the $261 million first phase of the project.

The initial phase — which will include the three mobility hubs at different intersections along Market Street, more than 1,000 parking spaces, rideshare pick-up and drop-off areas as well as bike and pedicab access — is slated to be complete in spring 2028. An “automated people mover,” an elevated, electric 1.6-mile linking the K Line directly to Hollywood Park and nearby venues, originally comprised Phase 1 but was subsequently moved to the second round of work.

Inglewood has become one of the country’s premier destinations for sports and entertainment, with more than 60 major events each year at SoFi Stadium, the Intuit Dome, Kia Forum and other venues, drawing tens of thousands of visitors. And that’s only set to grow, with the LA28 Olympics on its way.

But the project was not solely about preparing for LA28, plus the sporting events and concerts that drive droves of folks to SoFi and other nearby venues, Mayor James Butts said at the ceremony.

“By 2028 these streets will be filled with people, but long after the cameras leave, this (transit) plaza will still be here getting people to work, getting kids to school filling our restaurants and shops and giving our neighbors back their streets,” he said. “This is how we keep Inglewood thriving not for one summer, but for the next generation.”

The City Council approved a partnership in August with Elevate Inglewood Development Corporation, a team of construction partners, to build and operate the transit connector.

The Market and Florence hub will also include retail shops, a 10-bay bus plaza and a pedestrian bridge over Florence Avenue that will connect downtown streets directly to the Metro K Line.

“This (plaza) has been here about 60 to 65 years, and the businesses have served the city well, but we had an opportunity to prepare for the future–at the same time taking care of those businesses,” Butts said.

He sees the generations to come walking along Market Street just as their parents and grandparents did decades ago, he added, in a renewed infrastructural era.

“For generations, this is where Inglewood came to shop, to eat, to catch a movie and to see your neighbors,” Butts said of Market Street. “It was the heart of the city, and for too many years that heart has beat slower than it should.”

Meanwhile, a mile and a half from here, the world has come to Inglewood, he added, through NFL football, NBA All Star weekends and mega-concerts featuring such stars as Taylor Swift and Beyonce. SoFi’s second Super Bowl comes on Feb. 14 and the LA28 Olympics arrive the following year.

“But I’ve always believed that progress only counts if it reaches the people who live here,” Butts said. “When the world comes to Inglewood, does Inglewood grow with it? Do our small business get the customers? Do our neighbors get relief from traffic, or just more of it?”

Butts said he intends for this project to answer “yes” to all those questions — which he said have kept him up at night. The mayor envisions the transit connector will create public transportation that isn’t locals’ fallback option, but the first choice as the easiest, quickest away to get around.

Building the Inglewood Transit Connector also meant asking 24 small businesses and 13 stylists and operators who were in spaces inside them to move, Butts said, a request that he doesn’t take lightly.

“We promised them a place in Inglewood’s future, and we are keeping that promise,” Butts said.

A dozen of those businesses now have new locations secured or identified in the city, he said, including Westchester Dental Care and World Boot Mart moving from LaBrea Avenue to Market Street.

“We’re not done,” he added. “We’re still working with the rest, including Inglewood Beauty Salon, until every one of them has a home.”

Market Street, Manchester Boulevard and Queen Street — and the storefronts along them — will get a facelift with new sidewalks, landscaping, lighting and wayfinding. Access to businesses along those streets will be maintained during the work, but there will be intermittent temporary lane closures, sidewalk detours, parking adjustments and modified traffic patterns.

Grants from California’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, and L.A. Metro cover the design and construction of Phase 1. Inglewood’s Destination Market Street program will pay for facade and tenant improvements along the Florence and Market corridor.

Butts touted not having to use any money from the city’s general fund, or creating any new taxes, to fund the project.

The city began exploring the project in 2018, anticipating the crowds that would — and have — grow in Inglewood after the Forum’s renovation, and the construction of SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome.

Initially, the project only included the automated people mover project connecting the Metro K Line to Inglewood’s downtown area. But last year, it was revived as a multi-phased plan that first focuses on establishing more parking and shuttle services that will use dedicated bus lanes to connect visitors to the venues during the LA28 Olympics.

Under a Community Workforce Agreement, 35% of operations and maintenance jobs at the Inglewood Transit Connector will be reserved for local residents.

The overhaul, however, has been a concern among business owners in the plaza who are being forced to move to make way for the revamp and people mover train. Although the city is helping with relocation costs, some retailers and restaurant owners worry that it could cost them too much to remain open in a new spot with rising rent costs and inflating property values as the city continues to build up.

Relocating businesses are getting one-on-one relocation and reestablishment support, according to a city press release, and the city has offered grants of up to $250,000 for eligible businesses that are relocating to other locations in Downtown Inglewood.

At Florence and Market, businesses including O’Reilly Auto Parts, Red’s Flavor Table, Inglewood Optometric Center and Inglewood Beauty Supply, among others, are still open and have announced that they’re moving.

Flavor Table’s last day operating at that location, for example, is Oct. 29, according to a sign posted outside of the restaurant. CVS, meanwhile, has moved across the street, on a smaller scale, in a mixed-use apartment complex.

Food was served from restaurants in the plaza — Red’s Flavor Table, House of Tacos and Fiesta Martin — after the ceremony.

Mayor Butts also announced his proposal to name the fountain at Circle Park in the Morningside neighborhood after the late former Councilmember George Dotson once it’s repaired.

Dotson, who served on the council from 2013 until 2023, died earlier this month. He was 85 years old.