The proposed gondola project for Dodger Stadium is now in limbo after L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez introduced a motion demanding that it be put on hold for more traffic and access studies.
Hernandez, whose district includes Dodger Stadium and parts of downtown L.A., outlined concerns with the final environmental impact report, which Metro released on Dec. 4.
She said the report doesn’t provide clear solutions for the environmental and socioeconomic concerns raised by the surrounding communities, such as Solano Canyon, Elysian Valley, Chinatown, Angelino Heights, and Echo Park.
Hernandez added in her motion on Wednesday that it also doesn’t prove that the project is the most effective way of easing traffic on game days.
The motion, if approved by the full council, would force the city to “suspend any action on approving advancements” until more research is done.
According to the motion, Metro hasn’t seriously studied any potential alternatives to the project, such as improving existing transportation opportunities, enhancing pedestrian and bicycle networks, and developing a zero emission targeted bus solution to the stadium.
Hernandez pointed out that the last time a traffic study was done around Dodger Stadium was more than 30 years ago. The neighboring communities have changed a lot since then, including the construction of the A and E light rails, reorganizations of the Metro bus network, the rise of rideshare services like Uber or Lyft, and more local housing and infrastructure.
“Now, Metro is asking them to absorb the impact of constructing a gondola that would fly just feet over their homes and fundamentally change the landscape of their neighborhoods, without ever demonstrating that this is the most effective and efficient way to mitigate stadium traffic,” Hernandez said in a statement.
The motion said the people living in those communities, and the full council, deserve to get a complete picture of the traffic easement options before the city commits to the gondola.
Hernandez is also concerned about the impacts on native wildlife, noise and light pollution, people’s privacy, and accelerating gentrification.
The Metro Board of Directors postponed their vote Thursday for the environmental impact report. The report needs to be approved before the board can sign-off on the project itself. A new date was not announced.
The proposal would also need approval from the city of L.A., Caltrans, the California Department of Parks and Recreation, and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
The motion instructs LADOT, in conjunction with the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) and other relevant departments, to report back on traffic policies for other venues like the Rose Bowl, Hollywood Bowl, and SoFi Stadium.
That report is expected to include recommendations for traffic, local parking, and community queuing policies. It also calls for options that would encourage private companies to invest in traffic mitigation measures “to reduce the adverse impacts to communities caused by their operations.”
Hernandez has offered $500,000 of her council district funds for LADOT’s “Dodger Stadium Traffic Assessment.”
