Council provides thoughts on potential 2028 Olympics involvement 

Santa Clarita City Hall
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The 2028 Olympics are set to be held in Los Angeles for the third time in the event’s storied history. 

And while much of the venue planning has already been finalized, the Santa Clarita City Council last week discussed some of the ways that the city could potentially get involved. 

One of the more feasible ways could be to use part of the Santa Clarita Transit system to bus local residents to the venues in Carson, Inglewood, Long Beach, Temecula and L.A., said Councilwoman Laurene Weste. 

“I see that they’re linking all of the trains and buses and what have you to try to limit traffic congestion,” Weste said. “So, if we can participate in making sure that we are linking our people to those routes to keep cars off the freeway for the Olympics, that would accommodate and be safer for people, too.” 

The city’s transit staff is part of a regional transportation working group that is looking at logistics and different strategies that can be used to meet the region’s transportation goals for the 2028 Olympic Games, as well as the 2026 World Cup, scheduled to take place in cities across North America. That group is set to meet on Thursday, with updates expected to be brought forward to the council as needed. 

Weste added that local venues could be used as watch parties for people to aggregate. She mentioned Central Park, The Cube and, should it be built on time, The Rink as potential venues for that. 

Mayor Cameron Smyth said local hotels could be used to house athletes, and the Paralympic Games scheduled for after the Summer Olympics could have some events held in Santa Clarita. 

Likening the feeling to what was happening in 1984 — the last time L.A. hosted the Olympics and more than three years before Santa Clarita became incorporated —Councilman Bill Miranda said this is an opportunity for the city to try to gain some needed infrastructure that will likely be built across L.A. County, or at least raise the idea for future use. 

“Although I don’t have a tremendous amount of confidence that we can do something in 2028, I think we should be part of the process so that we can learn how to do more and more,” Miranda said, “and so that when the time is right for Santa Clarita to be one of the important venues of the Olympics, that we will have the relationships and the knowledge to be able to accept that challenge.” 

There are currently no plans for the Santa Clarita Valley to host any Olympic events, according to city staff. 

An ad hoc committee was established to provide city staff with, as Smyth put it, “thoughts and direction” on how the city can involve itself in the historic event. The appointments are set to be made at the next council meeting, scheduled for Sept. 24, as Councilman Jason Gibbs was not in attendance last week. 

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