2022 Gold Line Updates
February 2022
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has submitted a request for up to $16.5 billion of the state’s $46 billion surplus to Governor Newsom and the State Legislature to fund transportation projects in the southland area, including a $748 million extension of the Gold Line (now the L Line) light rail system from Pomona to Montclair.
If funded, the Gold Line project would extend the light rail system 3.3 miles from Pomona to the Montclair Transcenter — the designated eastern terminus of the Gold Line — giving Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties their first shared light rail connection. Metrolink already provides a commuter rail connection between the two counties through the San Bernardino Metrolink Line.
Completing the Gold Line to Claremont is identified as part of the “Twenty-Eight by ’28” initiative projects prioritized by Metro for completion before the 2028 Olympiad in Los Angeles. The San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) has responsibility for completing the Gold Line from Claremont to the Montclair Transcenter. The $16.5 billion ask includes funding for the Montclair segment of the project.
Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins, her predecessor, Phil Washington, and the Metro Board have demonstrated strong support for the extension of the Gold Line to Montclair. In a letter to Governor Newsom and key Legislators dated December 8, 2021, the Metro Board emphasized that the historic state surplus can be used to eliminate gridlock and reduce pollution in the region. Metro has supported the extension of the Gold Line since placing it in the agency’s Long Range Transportation Plan1 in 2009.
For Montclair, the arrival of the Gold Line is critical to the long-term success of the City’s completed and planned transit-oriented development projects2 in north Montclair. Three major residential projects (The Paseos, Arrow Station, and Alexan Kendry) have already been completed. One mixed-use project (The Village at Montclair) is scheduled to start construction by May of this year. Further, City staff is currently reviewing plans for two additional housing projects and two mixed-use developments for North Montclair, and more are expected.
Montclair’s transit hub is designed to capitalize on the Gold Line, providing a vital link for connecting commuters, students, shoppers, visitors, and others who will use the light rail system to travel back and forth between San Bernardino County and the San Gabriel Valley, Pasadena, and Los Angeles. Compared to the Metrolink train, the Gold Line provides less expensive, more frequent service and is expected to move drivers from their cars to the light rail system. A study completed in 2020 by Metro projects an estimated 8,000+ daily boardings for the Gold Line at the Montclair Transcenter.
If Governor Newsom and the Legislature authorize funding, the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority plans to complete the Gold Line to the Montclair Transcenter by 2028.
April 2022
The Biden administration provides funding to major bus and rail projects in six states as part of a spending blueprint it delivered to Congress in early April.
The new projects that the U.S. Department of Transportation included in its budget request would be in New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, Memphis, Tennessee, and San Antonio. The projects are well into their planning stages and could be ready for federal funding next fiscal year. However, the Gold Line extension from Pomona to Montclair, a shovel-ready project, was not included in the funding mix because the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority is currently prohibited from seeking federal funding for the project.
October 2022
In mid-October, in a visit to Los Angeles, while overlooking a site where a tunneling machine has paved the way for a subway line extension under Wilshire Boulevard that will connect Downtown Los Angeles with the Westside (the Purple/D Line), President Biden spoke of the need to invest in mass transit by touting his $1 trillion infrastructure law. According to President Biden, the United States’ infrastructure ranks 13th globally.
Even before the infrastructure bill was passed, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) supplied LA Metro with grants amounting to half the extension cost. This grant includes a $1.3-billion federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)2 in May 2021 to help finance phase three from Century City to the western terminus. President Biden also mentioned “moving forward” with the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail project.
Pomona Mayor and LA Metro Board Member Tim Sandoval noted that the infrastructure law would provide funds to LA Metro, which could make extra space in the budget to help pay for the Metro L (Gold) Line foothill extension from Pomona to Claremont and Montclair. It would be the first LA Metro light-rail line to extend into San Bernardino County.
The Gold Line project competes for $750 million in Transit and Inter-City Capital Rail Program (TIRCP) grants. Governor Newsom committed approximately $4 billion in state surplus dollars earlier this year to transportation projects throughout the state. The Gold Line, a shovel-ready project, is eligible for TIRCP funds. Under the agreement between LA Metro and the Foothill Gold Line Extension Construction Authority (Authority), the Authority is restrained from
competing for federal grant dollars, leaving state dollars as the primary funding source for the extension of the Gold Line from Pomona to Montclair. An infusion of federal dollars into LA Metro projects can free up state funds for extending the Gold Line.