L.A. Metro Board approves $798 million amendment to funding agreement between L.A. Metro and Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro) Board has approved a $798 million amendment to the ongoing funding agreement between L.A. Metro and the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority. The approved amendment, which now goes to the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority Board for ratification, will complete the Los Angeles County portion of the final 3.2-mile, two-station construction segment from Pomona to Montclair, Calif.
Under the terms of the agreement, L.A. Metro will utilize a state of California Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program grant to pay for its portion of the project. The agency named the project the agency’s number one priority for new state funding in 2023. According to the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority has dedicated $80 million of state and local funding for the portion of the project in San Bernardino County.
“Completing this project is essential to the future of this corridor and to the region,” said Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority Board Chair and Claremont City Council Member Ed Reece. “This project will expand mobility with reliable and sustainable transit, reducing emissions and improving quality of life for all. We sincerely appreciate [L.A.] Metro's commitment to completing this number one priority project.”
The approved funding agreement amendment between the two agencies defines the processes needed for L.A. Metro to fund work and collaborate with the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, as well as sets the foundation for identifying and implementing a detailed budget and means for disbursement, tracking and management of the funds. It expands the scope of work that the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority can utilize the county’s funding to include the Los Angeles County portion of the final project segment from Pomona to Montclair.
“Bringing Metro rail to the residents of the northern San Gabriel Valley has been a priority for [L.A.] Metro for more than two decades,” said L.A. Metro Board Chair and Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn. “Today’s approval allows that vision that so many in these communities have been waiting for to become reality and I look forward to breaking ground on it next year.”
The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority is currently underway to hire the design-build team for the shovel-ready project and expects to award a contract in spring 2025 and break ground later in the year. The final project segment will complete the Foothill Gold Line’s 25-station system, being built in four construction segments. It will provide a safe, reliable transit alternative to driving the busy 210 and 10 freeways and offer connections with Metrolink’s San Bernardino Line at both the Claremont and Montclair stations. The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority notes a future trip from Montclair to Pasadena should take just over 40 minutes and a trip from Montclair to Los Angeles would be about 75 minutes.
“Next year will be an historic year for the Foothill Gold Line and I am incredibly proud of the progress we are making,” Reece said. “In addition to completing construction on the four-station project segment from Glendora to Pomona the first week of 2025, the Construction Authority will also be able to break ground on the final segment, bringing us one major step closer to completing the agency’s legislative mandate.”
