The following excerpt appeared in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin on November 12, 2018. To read the full article, click here.

Gold Line extension to arrive early in La Verne, but delays expected in Pomona, Claremont and Montclair – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

The Gold Line at Union Station gets you to Pasadena in about 30 minutes to see shows at the Rose Bowl. Photo by Richard Guzman

By Beau Yarbrough

November 12, 2018

[Excerpt]:

Rising costs mean that the 12.3 mile, six-station Gold Line extension from Glendora to Montclair is probably going to pull into La Verne early – but its journey farther east will be delayed.

In a statement released Monday, Nov. 12, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority announced that the expansion of service to Pomona, Claremont and Montclair is expected to be pushed back by about two years.

“Over the last two months, the Construction Authority has reviewed the proposals submitted by the four design-build teams competing to win the Glendora to Montclair Alignment Contract,” Habib Balian, Construction Authority CEO, wrote in an email Monday. “Through that effort, we learned that all four bids reflected a significant unfavorable shift in market conditions since the project estimate was completed two years ago.”

Competition for building materials has led to a spike in construction costs nationwide, with prices in Southern California going up faster than the national average. As recently as April, officials thought they had enough money to get the line all the way to Montclair.

To get around this problem, Construction Authority officials want to open up the throttle and get the rail project moving faster than originally planned – at least for the Gold Line extension to La Verne. Then, they want to stop the expansion there and line up more funding for the rest of the expansion toward Montclair.

To read the full article, click here.