Metro Gold Line Extension Contract Signed In San Gabriel Valley

SAN GABRIEL VALLEY, CA -- Local elected officials were in Pomona along with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Friday to commemorate the signing of a construction contract for the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension.

The initiative consists of 28 Metro projects for potential completion by the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. The contract includes $805.6 million to study the first nine-miles of the project from Glendora to Pomona, with a two-year contract option to complete the full 12.3-mile project to Montclair for a total contract amount of $1.1 billion, if additional funds are secured by October 2021, officials said.

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority Board of Directors awarded the design-build contract for the next segment of the Metro Gold Line light rail system to the Kiewit-Parsons team in August.

``With the signing of this contract, we're getting to work building the next phase of the (Metro) Gold Line and a more connected future for (Southern California),'' Garcetti stated on Twitter. ``And with our 28 by '28 initiative, we're accelerating timelines to deliver transit projects even faster.''

With the contract now executed, the project will begin major construction in 2020 and be completed to Pomona in 2025, and if the contract option is activated, the entire project will be completed to Montclair in 2028.

The contract includes: relocating existing freight tracks; installing the light-rail track system; four new light-rail stations in Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne and Pomona; improvements at 40 grade crossings, and more.

The project could create as many as 16,000 jobs and up to $2.6 billion of economic output for the region, as well as up to $1 billion in labor income and potentially $40 million in tax revenue, according to a study by Beacon Economics.

City News Service contributed to this report.