The planned Los Angeles Rams stadium in Inglewood is just about to get shovels in the ground, relatively close to a future Metro rail line (just shy of two miles from the Crenshaw Line's Downtown Inglewood station), but Metro's Board of Directors is now looking into bringing a rail connection much closer to the venue in the form of a whole new line. Urbanize LA reports that members of the board have proposed a motion that, if approved, would allow Metro to look into routing a light rail line south from Florence Avenue in Inglewood to Torrance in LA's South Bay, "potentially along Prairie Avenue," which would mean it would pass by the western edge of Hollywood Park.

The line has already been proposed under the name South Bay Transit Corridor Rail Project, but it's never had a path locked down. (It was one of the projects funded by the half-cent sales tax increase known as Measure R, so it's not completely unrealistic either.) This football-adjacent route is "a new alternative" under consideration. Previous discussions on the project have explored it as "a southern extension of the Green Line from its current Redondo Beach terminus to Torrance via the Harbor Subdivision, a historic freight rail right-of-way," says ULA.

This new alignment would connect some of the South Bay's most populous cities to not only the football stadium, but also the massive housing/retail/restaurant/entertainment/office complex in the works next to the stadium. That project's expected to bring as many as 2,500 new residential units and a 300-room hotel, plus tons of office and retail space, multiple lakes, and 25 acres of public park space, in addition to thousands and thousands of parking spaces. The new line wouldn't likely be completed in time for the first games at the stadium, though. While the LA Rams are expected to play in their new home sometime in 2019, the South Bay Transit Corridor Rail Project isn't expected to be finished until around 2035 (which is probably why the line's route hasn't yet been hammered down).

If the light rail line doesn't happen, it's likely that there will be some kind of shuttle bus system set up, like the one that Metro has for games at Dodger Stadium or the Rose Bowl, but there's no doubt that a rail stop so close to the stadium would be pretty sweet on game day.

· Could Metro Rail Reach the New Inglewood Stadium? [ULA]

· Take a Good Look Around Los Angeles's Future NFL Stadium [Curbed LA]