Dionne Faulk, Contributor
The K Line, which had been in the works for years, finally opened last October. Its service creates a critical connection to the greater Metro network and will catalyze transit-oriented development and economic opportunity across the City of Inglewood and South Los Angeles for decades to come.
New development will bring more residents and visitors alike, who will now be able to traverse the region without getting behind the wheel. We are eager to welcome more people, and fewer cars, into our community.
But if we are going to succeed in doing so, we must make sure our transit system efficiently gets people exactly where they want and need to go. The Inglewood Transit Connector (ITC) Project is designed to do just that by creating a 1.6-mile people mover that will connect the K Line to the Kia Forum, Sofi Stadium, the Intuit Dome and the thousands of housing units and shopping centers coming online along Prairie Avenue.
The ITC Project responds to calls from community members and promises to serve the needs, specifically of black and brown communities, today and long into the future.
It will provide much needed alleviation to traffic congestion and frustration. It is good for our environment, promising to significantly reduce greenhouse gasses in a community that has historically been disproportionately burdened by pollution.
And it lifts up the people of our community by requiring that local and disadvantaged workers are hired not just during construction, but through operations, and seeking out small, local, minority, women, veteran and disadvantaged businesses enterprises to participate.
We now have an opportunity to make this vision a reality. If $400 million can be secured through the State’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program by the end of this month, we will be able to begin work by the end of the year, with the goal of providing service to the Olympic and Paralympics Games.
South LA residents have repeatedly demonstrated support for financing local transit projects, and our message has been clear: give us the funding to complete the project and we will lead the shift away from car-dependency and towards a cleaner, greener future.
There is no more critical time to fully invest in the completion of the ITC Project. It is shovel ready, and if it receives the funding necessary, can be completed at record speed. We hope our partners in Sacramento share this vision and opportunity.
Now is the time to invest. Now is the time to build. There’s no time to lose.
Dionne Faulk represents the 4th District on the Inglewood City Council.