El Segundo leaders expressed “deep concern” April 4 that a proposed new project at the Los Angeles International Airport will result in major traffic congestion, air pollution, noise and parking strain for the city.

“Over the years we have worked cooperatively with the City of Los Angeles on improving the customer experience at LAX, however these new projects are just too much for our residents,” said El Segundo Mayor Drew Boyles in a press release.

The project —which is currently in the environmental impact report stages—would add a new 11-gate concourse facility east of Terminal 1 and a new 12-gate passenger terminal southeast of the Sepulveda/Century Boulevard intersection, known as Terminal 9, according to Los Angeles World Airports.

“We are calling on LAX to scale back or eliminate these new gates, especially the brand new United Terminal 9, which will add another terminal to the airfield closest to our city,” Boyles said of El Segundo, which falls immediately south of LAX.

The new concourse and terminal will replace gates removed from the west side of the airport as part of a westerly extension of Taxiway D, according to LAWA documents.

“We are doing all of this within the existing footprint of the airport,” said Samantha Bricker, LAWA deputy executive director for environmental programs group and project development and coordination. “This will help modernize our facility as well as improve the passenger experience and improve safety and carrier experience for our airlines.”

El Segundo officials say the project will trade remote western gates for active gates in the central terminal area and negatively affect the city, which they say has already had to bear “the lion’s share” of the airport’s local impact.

“El Segundo has always stood for a balanced airfield, but this project proposal makes an unbalanced airport even more unfairly weighted toward El Segundo,” City Manager Greg Carpenter said.

LAX has tried to mitigate negative effects on the city in the past, even reaching a settlement with El Segundo in 2017, according to city sources.

As part of that agreement, LAX repaved parts of Imperial Highway near the airport and even performed a $50,000 study on parking impacts to the El Segundo community, according to Bricker.

In return, the airport was able to commence a now-ongoing accessibility project which includes a $4.9 billion new Automated People Mover station and a pedestrian bridge across Sepulveda Boulevard, linking Terminals 8 and 9.

“These… will provide dedicated access into airport, which will alleviate congestion on the surrounding streets and neighboring communities…improve air quality, reduce emissions and…make airport operations more efficient,” Bricker explained.

But El Segundo leaders maintain this latest project will shift traffic back to the overcrowded Sepulveda Tunnel, negating the benefits of those accessibility improvements.

“People parking in El Segundo to access work or travel at LAX is having negative impacts on our quality of life,” said Carol Pirsztuk, the mayor pro tem. “Instead of alleviating the problem…(this) will only make things worse.”

As for the business presence in the El Segundo – which the Los Angeles Economic County Economic Development Corp. named ‘the most business friendly city’ in 2015 within its population category – local entities have yet to weigh-in on LAX’s proposed expansion.

The El Segundo Chamber of Commerce will be discussing the LAX expansion at an April 15 meeting of the government affairs committee, according to CEO Marsha Hansen.

“We will be discussing it that day, but I don’t know if they will be taking an official position on it,” Hansen said.