On March 5, 2016 – 10 years ago today – Metro opened the Foothill Gold Line Pasadena to Azusa Extension for passenger service after more than five years of final design and construction, completion of three design-build contracts and substantial completion having been achieved the previous September. It was a historic day for the region and the Construction Authority, our contractors, elected officials and tens of thousands of local residents who came out to join Metro and each corridor city to celebrate the opening and ride the new extension for the first time.
Below are just a few pictures from the opening day 10 years ago today:
Federal, state, county and local elected officials stopped to take a picture after the formal ribbon cutting took place on March 5, 2016.
An estimated 30,000 riders took an inaugural ride on the new line on opening day.
Each station hosted a community celebration on opening day. Above are photos from the Arcadia celebration which included appearances by Smokey Bear from the U.S. Forest Service office in Arcadia, as well as the iconic bugle call from the Santa Anita Racetrack bugler that welcomed the first train to the station.
Foothill Gold Line staff, consultants and contractors celebrating the opening.
Since the line opened on that memorable day, much has happened around each of the six stations. Despite the Covid-19 Pandemic and economic uncertainties that impacted our region, the country and the world during the first decade of the line, thousands of housing units and tens of thousands of square feet of commercial space have been built within a short walk of the six new stations. Below are photos of the stations today, along with some statistics of the growth that has taken place around each station to date, with more planned by each city in the future:
Arcadia Station
Surrounding the Arcadia Station are new mixed-use developments. Since the extension opened in 2016, more than 350 housing units and more than 50,000 square feet of commercial space have been built or are underway now.
Monrovia Station
Significant growth has taken place surrounding the Monrovia Station, where more than 1,200 housing units have been built within a short walk of the station since the opening 10 years ago.
Duarte/City of Hope Station
Since 2016, more than 630 housing units have been built adjacent to the Duarte/City of Hope Station, and City of Hope has expanded by more than 560,000 square feet – adding a new 147-room on-site hotel (bottom photo), eight-story outpatient medical building (shown rising above the campus in the background of the middle photo) and a new pavilion for medical, research and administrative purposes – all part of a 2018-approved specific plan update that allows more than 1 million square feet of new development on the campus.
Irwindale Station
While no new major land developments have yet to take place near the Irwindale Station, the city is currently reviewing a proposed specific plan that would add up to 3 million square feet of business/commercial development at the brewery site just west of the station, and has already approved a specific plan that would add nearly 2 million square feet of industrial/business and commercial development across the 210 Freeway from the station on 91.5 acres.
Azusa Downtown Station
The city of Azusa has added 290 housing units near their Downtown Station since the line opened, some directly adjacent to the station (shown in the middle picture below), as well as some a short walk from Route 66 where a new mixed-use development has been built that includes apartments, a theater, restaurant space and shops (bottom photo).
APU/Citrus College Station
In addition to the 1,250 homes built adjacent to the APU/Citrus College Station as part of the Rosedale planned community, a new 112-unit townhome project is now under construction near the station, as is an 8,250 square foot commercial project that will have outdoor dining.
