The following excerpt appeared in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin on September 14, 2021. To read the full article (may require subscription), click here.
Federal, local leaders tour Montclair ‘Gold Line’ expansion site as project allies push for funds – San Gabriel Valley Tribune and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Rep. David Price, D-North Carolina (left), is greeted by Habib Balian, CEO of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, at the Montclair TransCenter on Monday, Sept. 13, 2021 for a congressional hearing on possible funding of the L Line, formerly Gold Line, extension project from Pomona to Claremont and Montclair. Montclair Councilwoman Tenice Johnson, left, joined the tour. (Photo by Steve Scauzillo/SCNG)
By Steve Scauzillo
September 14, 2021
[excerpt]:
Rep. David Price, a high-ranking Democrat from North Carolina, looked out the bus window and tried to imagine a new light-rail train line stopping in Montclair and Claremont connecting riders to the foothill cities of Los Angeles County.
The chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee and member of the House Appropriations Committee was invited to the two cities this week by fellow committee member Rep. Norma Torres, D-Pomona. The congresswoman, plus officials from both cities, want to plant the seed of the stalled project within the much-debated infrastructure bill proposed by President Joe Biden.
Though a $1 trillion infrastructure plan passed the U.S. Senate last month, different versions are still swirling in the House, as are related reconciliation bills that could pay for local mass transit projects such as the unfunded extension of the L Line, formerly the Gold Line, from Pomona to Claremont and Montclair. Currently, the extension to Montclair has a price tag of about $540 million.
“I certainly think we should explore that,” Price said Monday, Sept. 13, after the bus tour ended at the Montclair Transcenter, the transit hub where the line would terminate. “The purpose of this visit was to learn about the project, have a more informed approach as we think about funding sources. I’m open to that consideration.”
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