By Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority got a great bit of news Monday when the California State Transportation Agency announced it was to provide $798 million to complete the 3.2 mile segment of Los Angeles Metro’s A Line (formerly Gold Line) extension from Pomona to Montclair, capping a yearslong effort to fund the project.

The new funds are primarily from state Senate Bill 125. “On July 8, 2024, CalSTA approved nearly $2 billion to support public transportation as part of the first wave of SB 125 funding,” read an explainer on the transportation agency’s website, calsta.ca.gov. CalSTA will distribute $1 billion later this fiscal year and another $1 billion next fiscal year.

Funding will come in three waves from the state to Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to fund the $798 million segment from Pomona to Montclair according to Habib Balian, chief executive officer of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority.

“In the budget currently, there was about 498 million dollars that’s made available to Metro that is to come to us,” said Balian. “Then also later in the year there’s an additional 250 million dollars that will be coming to Metro, which is slated to come to us. That additional 50 million dollars is for a separate parking contract for the [new] Claremont station, which will be awarded at a later date.

“When we say ‘fully funded,’ we’re talking about [how] we have a budget and we have to plan to that budget,” Balian added. “The funding in those three … traunches that we just described, that fully funds our project at this budget.”

The first two rounds of funds — about $748 million — are enough for the construction authority to award a five-year design and build contract to a vendor by spring 2025. Balian said the construction authority is still in the vetting process of bidders.

On Wednesday, stakeholders and Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority personnel learned about the art that will be part of the soon to be completed La Verne station as part of the Los Angeles Metro A Line extension project. Photo/courtesy of Habib Balian

“It will definitely add the needed public transit infrastructure,” said Claremont City Council member Ed Reece, chair of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority board. “In regards to Claremont, this will bring opportunity to our small businesses throughout the Village and elsewhere in the community. This is going to create an opportunity for people to really visit Southern California and the greater LA area.”

The construction authority will let residents know when it expects to break ground once a vendor is hired, said Lisa Levy Buch, the construction authority’s chief communications and strategic development officer.

The Pomona to Montclair segment is budgeted to include new light-rail bridges over Garey and Towne avenues in Pomona, Indian Hill Boulevard in Claremont, and Monte Vista Avenue in Montclair, new Metro A Line stations in Claremont and Montclair, and a relocated Metrolink Station in Claremont, Levy Buch explained. Construction is projected to be complete by 2030.

Reece said Claremonters will see the current Metrolink station behind the Claremont Lewis Museum of Art move slightly east to be closer to the Metrolink parking lot on the east side of College Avenue, and then see the new Claremont A Line Station built near the current Metrolink Station. Reece added the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority committed about $80 million to fund about one mile of light-rail track from the LA county line to Montclair. The new light-rail and the current heavy rail systems cannot be built close together, Balian said, as they use different track systems.

A bridge will be built across Indian Hill Boulevard in order to accommodate the new light-rail system, before descending to the at-grade level stop near the Depot A Line station and then continuing on to its Montclair terminus.

Metro’s light-rail system was first introduced to the Foothill communities in 2003 when the Gold Line connecting LA Union Station to Pasadena opened. In 2016, the Gold Line reached Azusa.

The 12.3-mile extension project from Azusa to Montclair has been about 20 years in the making. Planning began in 2003 and, in 2011, the construction authority was given the green light by the state legislature to extend the A Line into San Bernardino County, and it broke ground in late 2017. However, funds for the project dried up by 2019, requiring the segment to be divided into two projects. The the 9.1-mile section from Azusa to Pomona was fully funded, but the remaining 3.2-mile segment between Pomona and Montclair was put on hold.

The price tag of the entirety of the two extension projects connecting Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont and Montclair is roughly $2.3 billion, according to Levy Buch. It will feature six stations, four of which are nearing completion in Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne and Pomona, with Claremont and Montclair to follow.

The 9.1-mile segment from Azusa to Pomona is about 88 percent complete and on course to open next year. That segment will cost $1.5 billion, accounting up much of the $2.3 billion estimate to complete the entire 12.3 mile extension.

On Wednesday, stakeholders and construction authority personnel took a bus tour of the current construction and watched as a test light-rail car glided on tracks in La Verne.

Despite recent surpluses in the state’s budget, repeated funding requests have been rejected by Sacramento.

“We’ve probably taken three shots at this in the last several years,” Balian said. Levy Buch added that Metro restricting the construction authority to only securing state and local monies in order to fund the project out to Montclair compounded that challenge.

Balian credits the local and state legislators in helping get the project on the books. Reece added that LA Metro’s board voting in March 2023 to make the Pomona to Montclair extension project its number one priority also helped make it a reality.

The A Line will address congestion concerns for commuters that utilize the 10, 210 and 60 freeways. It will also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by eliminating about 26.7 million vehicle miles traveled, and offer travel between the two counties at just $1.75 per two-hour fare, according to the construction authority. Discounted fares will be available for seniors, disabled, and low-income patrons, and students will ride for free.

“This project will be built in exactly where it needs to be to capture those potential trips,” she said. “We expect opening year that about 15,000 [daily] car trips are going to be … transferred onto transit when this opens to Montclair.” The Glendora to Pomona project is projected to accommodate about 12,000 daily passengers, she added.

“Our community will be able to take the A Line from Claremont all the way to Long Beach, across the foothills,” said Reece. “It really will make an impact on thousands of lives.”

The Daily Bulletin reported Monday that the new project would “create 5,500 jobs and generate $860 million in economic output as well as $13 million in tax revenues.”