As 2010 comes to an end, we thought we should end the year with a quick overview of the many milestones reached these past 12 months:

• The year started strong, when Metro and the Authority agreed to terms for transferring $810 million in Measure R funds to the Authority over the next nine years. Agreements were formally signed in June, and we celebrated with an awesome groundbreaking attended by more than 700!
• Phase 2A construction contracts moved forward in 2010. In June, Skanska USA was awarded the $18.5 million contract to design and build the Iconic Freeway Structure.
• The RFP for the anticipated $450 million contract to design and build Phase 2A (including track, stations, maintenance facility, bridges, crossings, utilities, systems, etc.) was released to short-listed teams in September (proposals are due in late January 2011).
• The Authority moved closer to environmentally clearing the site for a maintenance facility – a requirement of the Metro funding transfer. A Draft Supplemental EIR for the facility came out in September, with the Final Supplemental EIR anticipated in January 2011.
• In December, the Authority started the environmental review process for Phase 2B (Azusa to Montclair). Public scoping meetings are scheduled for January 2011 – and the entire review process should take 18 months. Once the process is complete, planning for Phase 2B will be complete and the project will be ready for funding!
• And last week’s post highlights the latest milestones – Caltrans’ approval of the Project Study Report/Project Report and Type Selection Study, as well as the approval in principal of the agreement between Metro and BNSF for sharing right-of-way east of Irwindale.

It has truly been a momentous year and we are glad you have been a part of it.

As we leave 2010, here is a quick video of folks we met out in community over the last year from Arcadia to Claremont and what the Foothill Extension means to them.

Have a happy and healthy new year. See you in 2011!