A proposed gondola in Los Angeles that would connect Union Station to Dodger Stadium would cost between $385 and $500 million, a price tag that's increased hundreds of millions of dollars from its first proposal.
An environmental impact report estimated the gondola would cost $385 million to $500 million to build, plus an additional $8 million to $10 million per year to operate and maintain, the LA Times reported Tuesday.
A proposed gondola in Los Angeles that would connect Union Station to Dodger Stadium would cost between $385 and $500 million, a price tag that's increased hundreds of millions of dollars from its first proposal.
An environmental impact report estimated the gondola would cost $385 million to $500 million to build, plus an additional $8 million to $10 million per year to operate and maintain, the LA Times reported Tuesday.
In 2018, when the Dodger Stadium gondola was first proposed, the cost was estimated at $125 million. The gondola would connect Union Station and Dodger Stadium on a seven-minute ride, with the grand opening targeted for 2028 — just in time for the Olympics.
The 3,700-page environmental impact report has come ahead of a series of votes and regulatory hurdles on the project, starting at Metro early next year and continuing to Los Angeles City Hall, the California Department of Transportation and California State Parks, the LA Times reported.
The governmental hearings on the project could well be dominated by issues that weren't addressed in the report, such as whether there would be guarantees about not using taxpayer funds.
The gondola costs, the report said, could be covered by private bond financing, sponsorships, naming rights and fares — although ZET promises fans can ride free to Dodger games.
The report acknowledged community concern about the perceived inevitability of major development in the parking lot — homes, hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. — but said the gondola proposal is strictly a transit project and should be evaluated as such, in the absence of evidence "that there is an intention to proceed with a larger, more grandiose project in the future."
Any such project would be subject to city planning and zoning restrictions, the report said, as reported by the LA Times.
Former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, who retains half-ownership of the stadium lots and has championed development there in the past, first proposed the gondola.
Metro, according to the report and as reported in the Times, "is not required to analyze a broader scheme or otherwise attribute a motive to an applicant based on speculation from commenters regarding a potential future action. Evaluation of future environmental effects should wait for the decisions that could cause those effects."
