Los Angeles Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez introduced a motion on Wednesday asking the city to pause any actions related to the Dodger Stadium gondola project.
Hernandez said work on the gondola system, known as Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit (LAART), should be suspended until the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) completes a traffic and accessibility assessment.
“The communities that surround Dodger Stadium already bear the burden of the traffic congestion and increased pollution that stems from an increasingly year-round schedule of events at the stadium,” Hernandez stated in a news release.
Hernandez says an Environmental Impact Report released by Metro overlooked concerns about potential environmental and economic impacts.
“Now, Metro is asking them [residents] 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 her motion, Hernandez calls for a new study to determine if the gondola would offer a “robust solution” to the impact of stadium traffic on the surrounding communities.
The gondola is the brainchild of former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and his son, Drew, whose company would privately finance and construct the system, while Metro would be responsible for planning the logistics.
The proposal has drawn support from local businesses and transit activists but has received equal opposition from those whose homes will be underneath the gondola’s path.
Phyllis Ling, founder of Stop the Gondola, a group devoted to bringing an end to the project, said previously she was concerned that the project could go over budget and leave the taxpayers on the hook for unexpected bills, like maintenance and repairs.
