GLENDORA — Nearly 700 people came to Citrus College on Saturday to mark the ground-breaking of a 12.3-mile extension of the Gold Line from Glendora to Montclair, the final leg of what is already the longest light-rail line in Los Angeles County.

The $1.5 billion project is the first funded by Measure M, a one-half cent transportation tax passed by county voters 13 months ago, with a small portion coming from state Cap and Trade funds generated by polluting industries. San Bernardino County will pay for the Claremont-to-Montclair segment.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line was held at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Paul Looney, 69, who says he has mixed feelings over the extension of the Foothill Gold Line, looks over diagrams of a station that will be built near his home in San Dimas during a groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line from at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

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A diorama of the proposed Gold Line Station in Montclair on display during a groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Elected officials and board members pose for photos during a groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Marilyn Ward, 67, of La Verne, who says she looks forward to the Gold Line extension, takes a photo of a diorama of the La Verne station, during a groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)



Community members look over a diorama of a proposed Gold Line station in Glendora during a groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Metro CEO, Phillip Washington (center left) and Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority CEO, Habib Balian (center right) hold up a giant shovel as they pose for photos with Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, and other elected officials and board members during a groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

U.S. Representative, Adam Schiff, spoke to elected officials, Metro board members, and community members during a groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

From left: Alex, Jack, Kathleen and Leona Grigorov, of Glendora, look at a diorama of a proposed Gold Line Station in Glendora during a groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Gerald Collier, 81, of Claremont, who says he opposes extension of the Foothill Gold Line any further than Pomona, stands next to a diorama of what will be the Pomona station during a groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)



Gerald Collier, 81, of Claremont, who opposes an extension of the Foothill Gold Line any further than Pomona, is reflected in a glass cover holding a diorama of what will be the Pomona station during a groundbreaking ceremony at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Habib Balian, CEO of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, speaks at the ground breaking ceremony for the Glendora-to-Montclair extension at Citrus College in Glendora, on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line’s 12.3-mile extension will be completed in 2026. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, speaks to elected officials, Metro board members, and community members during a groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Elected officials and board members pose for photos during a groundbreaking ceremony for the extension of the Foothill Gold Line at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. The Gold Line will extend from Glendora to Montclair, further connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the rest of Los Angeles county. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Eighteen speakers, including local, state and federal elected officials and hundreds of community stakeholders turned out, lauding the project as more than just an alternative to driving the traffic-jammed 210 Freeway, but also as fulfillment of the California Dream for those who buy new houses to be built along the line and raise families in communities nestled against the San Gabriel Mountains.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti spoke about adding regional rail and busways that connect job centers in the city of Los Angeles to the eastern suburbs of the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire, so workers can get home to their families faster instead of sitting in freeway traffic.The first Gold Line from L.A.’s Union Station to Pasadena in 2003 and the first foothill extension from Pasadena to Azusa in 2016 sent a signal to transportation planners that far-reaching light-rail lines can be successful in car-centric Southern California, he said.

“At the end of the day this is really about people. About us getting to that job. To be able to get home, hold our daughters in our arms, have dinner with them and tuck them in at night,” said Garcetti, who also sits as chairman of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, known as Metro.

The first three years of construction will be used to relocate utilities, conduct pre-construction work and hire a design-build contractor. Major construction will begin in 2020 and is divided into two phases: relocating/rebuilding the freight/Metrolink systems and building the actual Gold Line light-rail system. Completion is expected by the end of 2026.

The line, which already has 27 stations, will add six new stations in Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont and Montclair. By connecting to the Montrclair Transcenter over the county line, it will provide commuters from San Bernardino County the option of riding Metro’s Gold Line into Pasadena and Los Angeles for the first time.

The U-shaped, 31-mile Gold Line runs from East Los Angeles to Union Station and to Pasadena, with the current terminus at Citrus College on the Azusa-Glendora border. The Azusa station opened March 5, 2016. After a few months, Metro added more trains to meet demand, which has soared to 58,000 daily riders, almost 10,000 more than predicted.The success silenced critics who said building rail lines to lightly populated suburbs should not be a priority.

“This is where the growth is, where people move out of the city to capture the American Dream,” said state Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada Flintridge, before the start of the ceremony. “We should have a transportation system that meets that need.”

As a state legislator in 1998, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, nicknamed The Father of the Gold Line, created the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, an independent agency run by local cities, after Metro put its initial project on the shelf. On Saturday, Schiff praised the authority and its CEO, Habib Balian, for two successful phases and helped begin the next phase by plunging a ceremonial shovel into the dirt.

Schiff said cities and counties in California need to find their own local transportation funding. The massive tax bill soon to be adopted by Congress will eventually remove federal transportation funding, particularly from blue states such as California and New York, he said.

“The net result will be some years from now when our national debt is even higher, we will have to entertain what to cut. And it is likely we’ll be cutting transportation funding,” Schiff said in an interview. “Unfortunately, it sends a message that the states can’t really rely on the federal government.”

While most in attendance celebrated the start of a new addition, which one report says will inject $2.6 billion into the economy and create 17,000 jobs, some are paying attention to the details.

Glendora Councilman Michael Allawos said the authority needs to do communicate more during the construction, when major streets will be closed. “At least half of the roads will be closed (in Glendora). People will be frustrated and angry and we need to keep that to a minimum.”

Gerald Collier, 81, an avid train watcher and 50-year-resident of Claremont, doesn’t want the Gold Line, because Claremont is served by a Metrolink commuter rail station that can take passengers into Los Angeles quicker.

“I say that it shouldn’t go any farther than Pomona,” he said after the ceremony. “Beyond Pomona, they are duplicating services with Metrolink and the Gold Line.”

But San Bernardino County politicians, including Rep. Norma Torres, D-Pomona, and state Sen. Connie Leyva, a Democrat whose district includes Pomona, Chino, Ontario and Fontana, both supported the project. Torres, specifically, said it doesn’t go far enough, and wanted San Bernardino County to extend it to Ontario International Airport.

“You know the reason the Inland Empire was rated the worst place to retire? A lack of public transit,” Torres said.