The next stop in our series highlighting cities in the Foothill Extension’s Azusa to Montclair segment takes us to Pomona. This city is home to the Fairplex, one of Southern California’s largest event and entertainment centers. The Fairplex hosts events all year long, with its most popular being the LA County Fair each Fall.
Rides, games, and great food are all part of the fun at the LA County Fair. (Photo credit: Cathy Cole)
For visitors looking to pump up their adrenaline, the Pomona’s Auto Club Raceway is a must. This dragstrip hosts National Hot Rod Association’s Winternationals and finals events every year.
History buffs will enjoy visiting La Casa Primera de Rancho San Jose. Built in 1837, this historic landmark is the oldest home in the Pomona Valley. Adobe de Palomares is another historical site in Pomona. The old adobe home is now open to the public as a museum full of information on life in the Spanish and Mexican ranchos.
While you’re in Pomona, you can also explore the various restaurants, galleries, and nightclubs in the Pomona Arts Colony neighborhood. Watch up-and-coming bands perform at the Glass House and at the art-deco Fox Theater.
High adrenaline excitement at Pomona’s Auto Club Raceway. (Photo credit: Ian Zimmerman)
A tour of Pomona would not be complete without a trip to Cal Poly Pomona. The university campus features a 1.3 acre Japanese garden and a rose garden that dates back to the school’s founding years.
Does anyone know why the decision was made to route the Gold Line extension where it essentially duplicates the Metrolink route through this area? One thing this blog post fails to address is that the southern half of Pomona (where the people are) is a long way from any of the proposed stops, and Cal Poly Pomona is virtually inaccessible from these areas via transit.
As with Pasadena to Azusa, the extension from Azusa to Montclair is planned to be built along the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (ATSF) right-of-way, which was purchased by Metro in the early 1990s for the project. You are right that a portion of this right-of-way (from Pomona east to Montclair) shares the corridor with Metrolink. We have studied the relationship between these two services and have found that instead of diminishing ridership on one line or the other, adding the light rail service near Metrolink’s commuter service helps attract new riders to both. This is likely because the two provide different serve functions, as well as connect riders to different parts of the county. Together, the three “shared” stations (in Pomona, Claremont and Montclair) provide riders with new opportunities with easy transfers.
Regarding your second question, the Construction Authority is already working with local transit providers (Foothill Transit and Metro mostly) to identify ways their service can be augmented to help make bus/rail connections at all stations proposed from Azusa to Montclair easy and efficient for riders. We cannot reach everywhere with a fixed-guideway system; however, we can work together to encourage overall transit use by making it easier for riders to connect to rail transit by bus.
Actually, the Fairplex and the Raceway are closer to the proposed La Verne station. And this posting’s station is called “North Pomona” by Metrolink.
Leanne raises a valid point.
The market and the corridor that needs Light Rail is located in Pomona south of I-10. Right now all California’s 7th-largest-city’s center gets are a smattering (10? M-F only) of Metrolink trains on the Riverside Line, and the not-so-rapid Silver Streak BRT line. Add to that the existing Alameda Corridor East freight improvements and the coming California High Speed Rail line (which won’t stop in Pomona) and we see that downtown Pomona is getting the short-end of any regional transportation improvements.
Claremont/Montclair have gotten both a very frequent commuter rail line (42 trains a day M-F with Sat and Sun service too)) and a freeway (The 210) in the past 20 years. Do these cities deserve Light Rail as well?
There is space (and an old PE right-of-way) in place to build an elevated Gold Line from the ATSF over the San Bernardino Line and down onto the median of White, a street that has capacity to spare. This would facilitate running the Gold Line to downtown Pomona, with a possible Park and Ride at I-10, then east towards Ontario and ONT airport.
Surely this alternative should still be included in any EIR given new census data and the already-in-place TOD infrastructure in downtown Pomona. Remember, the Atlantic Ave. branch of the Gold Line may never get to Pomona if it ends up in Whittier.