The Metro Board today approved a $1.4-billion budget and partnership agreements to extend the Metro Gold Line in the San Gabriel Valley another 11.5 miles east to Claremont.

Partnership agreements establish a funding plan and shared roles and responsibilities between Metro and the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, the agency that will build the extension. Metro will fund the portion of the new segment from Glendora to Claremont within Los Angeles County. The Construction Authority plans to utilize other funding to complete the line to Montclair in San Bernardino County as part of the overall project.

The extension will be the first rail line to begin construction from a multitude of new transit projects funded by Metro’s Measure M half-cent transportation sales tax approved by L.A. County voters in November 2016.

Under the terms of the funding agreement, Metro will use Measure M and other local and state funds to pay for construction. Metro plans to apply for a $249-million grant from the state’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program to complete life-of-project budget requirements. Should that funding be unavailable, Metro will pursue other options and approaches to meet the full funding needs of the project.

The Board also approved the transfer of an additional $26 million in cost savings from the Construction Authority’s Gold Line segment to Azusa, which opened in March 2016. Combined with previously approved savings, nearly $100 million of residual Measure R funds dedicated for the full Foothill Gold Line project will be used to complete the next segment from Glendora to Claremont.

The Funding Agreement and Master Cooperative Agreement define the working relationships and processes needed for Metro to fund work and collaborate with the Construction Authority. These agreements set the foundation for identifying and implementing a detailed budget and means for disbursement, tracking and management of funds, safety and quality throughout the course of the design-build project.

The extension will provide a safe, reliable transit alternative to driving the busy 210 and 10 freeways and offer a connection with Metrolink’s San Bernardino Line. A planned extension from Claremont to Montclair will add about another mile when funding is secured. A trip from Montclair to Pasadena should take just over 40 minutes, and a trip from Montclair to Los Angeles would be about 75 minutes.

To date, the Construction Authority has environmentally cleared the project and completed advanced engineering for the entire alignment. The authority expects to award its first contract for advanced utility relocation later this year. The project’s official groundbreaking is planned for October, with plans to open to the public by 2027.

For more Metro information about this program, please visit https://www.metro.net/projects/foothill-extension/. For more information from the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, please visit http://www.foothillgoldline.org/.

Like this: Like Loading...