Gold Line extension approved, in part

Posted on by

I spent Thursday at the MTA HQ in L.A. to learn the fate of the Gold Line light-rail extension out our way.

The San Gabriel Valley got half of what it wanted: The segment from Pasadena east to Azusa can start construction in 2010 and begin operation in 2013 after the MTA board agreed to operate it in 2013 instead of 2017.

However, the MTA declined to request federal dough to extend the line from Azusa to Claremont, under the assumption that the project might edge aside its higher priorities on Wilshire Boulevard and downtown L.A.

I’ll write more about this in Sunday’s column. FYI, my presence at the meeting was why none of your comments were posted here until nearly 6 p.m., when I got to a computer.

And yes, I took public transit — Metrolink — to the meeting.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Plusone Linkedin Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email
  • shirley wofford

    Hi David,

    It’s a good thing I read your blurb here before I looked at the Times site. The Times hid some of the important details, like the part that the east extension won’t go beyond Azusa until after 2013. That’s a bummer for the commuters.

    The businesses along Wilshire are going to start having coronaries once they start that leg of the subway.

    I wish I had gotten up the gumption to go in myself to watch the dynamics of those politicians. If I had been there I would have offered to treat you at Philippe.

    MTA cafeteria is a nice rest spot. Did you go there? Did you see Mayor Villar? I saw him at the MTA Building once. He was sitting on one of the chairs in the first floor lobby, talking on a cellphone — wearing a very flashy tie. When I saw him, I stepped a little to the right to get a better look at him, and the man standing by him took a step too.

    ["Do not look directly at the mayor. Thank you." Yes, he was there, and in a nice tie. I considered the MTA cafeteria but went to Pitfire Pizza for lunch and Philippe for dessert. -- DA]

  • Felipe

    Why run the Gold Line to Montclair? There’s already Metrolink service between Montclair and LA. It would make more sense to extend the Gold Line along the 210 to Highland and serve the foothill communities whose only option now is to sit in traffic on the 210. If public transit to ONT is so important, run a trolley from the Rancho Cucamonga station to the airport. The redundancy of a rail line to Montclair is another example of gov’t at its worst.

    [You make several interesting points. Other than the center of the freeway, not the most user-friendly place to board a train, I don't know where they'd get the right of way. When the idea came up of running the Gold Line along the bike path in RC (the old Red Line trolley line) through residential neighborhoods, people said no way. -- DA]

  • Judy Wright

    When I worked on the 210 extension (for 13 years) as a city council member in Claremont, we made sure that there was room on the sides and bridges for transit. Whether Al Leiga and Karen Rosenthal changed that after I left the CC, I don’t know. There still should be room.