This post originally appeared in the Curbed LA Blog on March 4, 2013.

Don’t Give Up on Gold Line to Montclair and Ontario Airport

Even though Metro starved the Gold Line extension to Montclair by giving other transit projects higher priority (i.e., money), hope isn’t lost. Members of the Gold Line Construction Authority–which is currently extending the light rail from Pasadena to Azusa–recently traveled to DC and lobbied Congressfolk and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for money or bonds for the project, which would stretch the Gold Line even further east (and allow for a one-seat train ride from Santa Monica Long Beach to Montclair when the Regional Connector is built). Glendora city councilmember and GLCA board member Doug Tessitor is also lobbying for money to get the ball rolling on connecting the train to Ontario Airport, reports the Glendora Patch: “Hopefully we’ll find roughly a million-and-a-half dollars to provide some studies and alignment and route selection out of the San Bernardino area to the Ontario airport,” he says.

While the Expo Line extension appears to be moving more quickly than the Gold Line extension, the latter project is still on track to open in just two years–even though just one of 24 needed bridges has been completed. But “Ground has been broken on the first at-grade crossing at Highland Avenue in Duarte and Dalton Avenue in Azusa” as well, and “Work is in progress on the Duarte station and the Operations Campus.”

The construction authority recently awarded the final contract for the Azusa extension–they hired Webcor to build parking facilities and other enhancements. [Image of construction in Duarte via I Will Ride’s Facebook page]