Meeting_Body
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
JANUARY 28, 2016
Preamble
Motion by:
Directors Butts, Ridley-Thomas, Knabe, Fasana, Antonovich and Kuehl
Relates to Item 58
Metro’s ability to provide accessible public transit to economic and employment centers, is fundamental in creating true “Transit Oriented Communities”. The agency has a track record of this; Warner Center is served by the Orange Line, and Old Town Pasadena is served by the Gold Line. When it opens this summer, the Exposition Line will take riders to the Santa Monica Mall and Promenade. Section 2 of the Purple Line is envisioned to take riders to Century City and the Regional Connector will better serve downtown’s various economic centers.
The "City of Champions Revitalization Project" in Inglewood is a 298-acre project that will include up to 890,000 square feet of retail, 780,000 square feet of office space, 2,500 new residential units, a 300-room hotel, and 25 acres of public parks, playgrounds, open space and pedestrian and bicycle access. It will also include a stadium of up to 80,000 seats and a performance venue of up to 6,000 seats. The project, which will be built at no cost to taxpayers, promises to create thousands of construction and permanent jobs for surrounding residents, and generate tens of millions of dollars in sales tax and other revenues for the entire region.
Metro’s ongoing update to the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) provides a timely opportunity to rethink the region’s transportation priorities, including how best to provide public transit to key destinations within the South Bay. The South Bay Council of Governments (COG) has been working in collaboration with Metro to design a “South Bay Transit Corridor Rail Project”; the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is currently in process. Funds for this project were included in Measure R, and the project is currently being examined as part of the LRTP Performance Metrics Analysis, however a specific alignment has not yet been defined. The South Bay COG has already identified this type of rail project as a sub-regional priority and it is accounted for within their budgeted allocation of resources that would potentially be available if an additional sales tax ballot measure is successfully pursued.
The catalytic economic development opportunities associated with the City of Champions Project provide further impetus to evaluate a north/south alignment, potentially along Prairie Avenue, as part of the LRTP process. This alignment would directly link both the Crenshaw/LAX Line and the Green Line to this new economic center and extend south to serve the South Bay all the way to the City of Torrance.
An arterial in this vicinity would serve the most populous South Bay cities of Inglewood (112,000 pop.), Gardena (60,000 pop.), Hawthorne (86,000 pop.), Lawndale (33,000 pop.), and Torrance (147,000 pop.), potentially creating tremendous transit advantages for the sub-region region.
Given the timing of the Long Range Transportation Plan update process, it is imperative that Metro seize the opportunity to examine the “Prairie” Corridor alignment through the development of a feasibility study, followed, as appropriate, by a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR), to be included in the Measure R South Bay Corridor Transit Project analysis.
Title
APPROVE Motion by Directors Butts, Ridley-Thomas, Knabe, Fasana, Antonovich and Kuehl that the Board of Directors Amend Item 58 to:
Instruct the Chief Executive Officer to expeditiously facilitate a Feasibility Study, followed by a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR/SEIS) as deemed appropriate, for the Measure R South Bay Transit Corridor Rail Project focusing on an alignment extending from Florence Avenue in Inglewood to the City of Torrance, potentially along Prairie Avenue, as prescribed in Measure R. The cost for this work should come from Measure R Administrative funds; and
Instruct the Chief Executive Officer to ensure that this alignment is considered as part of the “South Bay Transit Corridor Rail Project” within the Long Range Transportation Plan Update.
MAYOR BUTTS AMENDMENT to amend this Motion to clarify that the purpose of the “Prairie Corridor” Feasibility study is to examine potential alternatives in and around the Prairie Corridor as it passes through the City of Inglewood and beyond to a “to-be-determined” terminus in the South Bay subregion and to include this examination in the context of tasks to be undertaken by the “Metro Line to Goal Line” Task Force” in their report back to this Board.