2024 Gold Line Updates
March 2024
Construction Authority Releases RFQ for Gold Line Extension
With the Montclair Transcenter in its sight as the final stop in the eastward extension of the Gold Line light rail system, the Foothill Extension Construction Authority (Construction Authority) is now within ten months of completing the Glendora to Pomona segment and turning the completed project over to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency (LA Metro), with passenger fare operation expected to begin in early 2025.
Crews for the Construction Authority are nearing completion on installation of the overhead power infrastructure; finishing construction on the four new stations in Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne and Pomona; testing safety equipment at the project’s 21 at-grade crossings; and completing installation of the Overhead Catenary System (OCS). The hundreds of OCS poles needed for the 9.1-mile project are now nearly all in place, and crews are finishing the installation of wires atop the poles to provide power to the light rail vehicles when they enter operational service.
The Construction Authority is now turning its attention to the final stage of the project by starting the process to hire the design-build team that extend the light rail system to Claremont and Montclair. This effort follows LA Metro submitting the Los Angeles County portion of the project for full funding through Senate Bill 125. Funding for construction on the San Bernardino County side to the Montclair Transcenter (approximately $98 million) will be provided by the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority.
SB 125 guides the distribution of $4 billion in state General Fund moneys through the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program. Funding is distributed through the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) via a population-based formula to regional transportation planning agencies. These agencies, in turn, will have the flexibility to use the money to fund transit operations or capital improvements. SB 125 also establishes the $1.1 billion Zero-Emission Transit Capital Program, with funds allocated to regional transportation planning agencies on a population-based formula, and another formula based on revenues to fund zero-emission transit equipment and operations.
CalSTA has allocated approximately $1 billion to LA Metro for transit capital projects. Award of the funding is expected to be completed by the end of April 2024. LA Metro is then expected to award approximately $790 million to the Construction Authority, distributed over several years, to complete the shove-ready Gold Line extension from Pomona to Claremont. SBCTA will then fund the Claremont to Montclair segment.
In anticipation of receiving the funding, the Construction Authority recently initiated the 15-month procurement process with issuance of the Request for Qualifications (RFQ). Once funding is secured and the design-build team hired, the 3.2-mile, two-station project from Pomona to Montclair will take approximately five years to complete, with construction slated to begin in late 2025.
Working with the Construction Authority, the Montclair Team has asked for inclusion of several betterments to improve the transit experience at the Montclair Transcenter. Betterments include a pedestrian bridge parallel to the Gold Line track bridge over Monte Vista Avenue. Both bridges would be constructed just north of the existing Metrolink bridge. The Construction Authority will also relocate the existing “Flying M” art piece to a suitable location selected by the City.
The Montclair Team is also working with its consultant for North Montclair, Moule & Polyzoides Architects & Urbanists, to develop a Master Project Development Plan for the Transcenter. The City is presently seeking to acquire the Caltrans-owned property at the Transcenter in order to oversee its future development. The Master Project Development Plan will incorporate a grid block system and feature a 1,600-vehicle parking structure, transit passenger terminal, secure transit-rider platform, affordable and market rate housing, park land, and commercial and gathering spaces.
July 2024
Funding to Extend Metro A-Line (Gold Line) to Montclair Secured
After approximately two decades of effort on the part of Montclair’s elected and appointed leaders, in partnership with local Federal and State legislative representatives, the Foothill Gold Line Extension Construction Authority (Construction Authority), Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro), San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA), and elected leaders from cities along the Gold Line Corridor, it is my great pleasure to report that funding to extend the A-Line (formerly the Gold Line) from Pomona to Claremont, followed by extension of the light rail system to the Montclair TransCenter in San Bernardino County, has been substantially achieved.
In preparation for this moment, the City has functioned as a regional leader in developing a transit district around its transit station and pursuing the planning, housing and commercial projects compatible with that objective. By state statute, the Montclair Transcenter is the legislatively mandated eastern terminus of the A-Line.
The dedication of approximately $798 million to build the A-Line from Pomona to Claremont emerged when, in late June 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers reached agreement on a $297.9 billion budget deal that closes a $47 billion shortfall, and the Legislature followed with adoption of the budget.
On June 29, 2024, Governor Newsom signed legislation reflecting the final budget agreement with the State Legislature, delivering a budget that is balanced over the next two fiscal years while preserving key investments in safety net programs, education, addressing homelessness, mental health care reform, and more.
As outlined in the agreement, the budget is balanced for fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26. The deal also preserves budget resilience by maintaining a minimum $22.2 billion in total reserves at the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year. The state has taken several measures to manage revenue volatility in recent budget cycles, including setting aside a record amount of reserves, focusing most of the surplus on one-time and near-term spending instead of potentially unsustainable long-term and ongoing obligations, and paying tens of billions of dollars toward the state’s long-term debt.
The budget addresses a $46.8 billion shortfall through a balanced package of solutions, including spending reductions of $16 billion. It avoids deep program cuts, maintaining service levels for several priority issues including Proposition 98 funding for education and investments in Medi-Cal expansion, encampment resolution grants, nonprofit security grants, summer food assistance, updated foster care rates and more. Additional details on the 2024 state budget can be found in this fact sheet.
Despite the $46.8 billion deficit, California remains the fifth largest economy in the world and, for the first time in several years, the state’s population is increasing and tourism spending in California recently experienced a record high. California is also number one in the nation for new business starts, number one for access to venture capital funding, and the number one state for manufacturing, high-tech, and agriculture.
Of particular importance to Montclair is the preservation of climate action plan-directed funding for extension of the A-Line from Pomona to Claremont, with SBCTA providing $80 million for construction to Montclair.
On July 8, 2024, the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) announced that LA Metro would receive $500 million from the first round of funding secured through the state’s adoption of its ambitious 2022 Climate Action Plan that relies, in part, on rail transit to facilitate achieving an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a reduction in oil usage by 94%—both by 2045.
State funding is routed through the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP), created by Senate Bill 862 (2014)/Senate Bill 9 (2015). TIRCP grants come through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to fund transformative capital improvements including urban rail systems that promise to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, vehicle-miles traveled, and traffic congestion. CalSTA is expected to award an additional $500 million to LA Metro over the next few years in $250 million increments.
The Climate Action Plan’s Scoping Plan9, released by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), lays out the world’s first detailed pathway to carbon neutrality by 2045, ramps up carbon removal and sequestration, and invests $54 billion to forge an oil-free future while building sustainable communities throughout the state.
A commitment of funding came on March 23, 2023, when the LA Metro Board of Directors designated the Gold Line Extension from Pomona to Claremont its number one priority transit project, promising that any transit-related funding from CalSTA would be designated toward the project. Now, with the approval of funding by the state, SBCTA is expected to commit $80 million in allocated funding to extend the Gold Line from Claremont to the Montclair TransCenter—this commitment of funding was approved by the SBCTA Board of Directors in April 2024. All indications from LA Metro representatives is that the funding awarded by CalSTA will be dedicated to build the A-Line from Pomona to Claremont.
To move the project along, on Thursday, July 11, 2024, Construction Authority Board of Directors selected Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. as the most qualified vendor to build the 3.2-mile extension from Pomona to Claremont and Montclair. Kiewit was recommended to the Board after submitted Request for Qualifications (RFQs) were reviewed by several panels—I served on the Finance Review Committee. Montclair team members (myself, Economic Development Agency Director Mikey Fuentes, Community Development Director Mike Diaz, Public Works Director Monica Heredia, and Executive Engineering Director/Major Projects Manager Rosemary Hoerning) are also participating in the Request for Proposal (RFP) Pre-Release Review process.
The selection of Kiewit follows the company’s submittal of their statement of qualifications last month. Several evaluation committees deemed Kiewit qualified on all evaluation categories. Kiewit will now move to the proposal phase of the procurement, expected to occur in September 2024, when the Construction Authority releases its bid package. The Construction Authority anticipates receiving Kiewit’s bid response in in early 2025 for review and evaluation.
In the interim, the Construction Authority, LA Metro and SBCTA will finalize funding, right-of-way and construction agreements. Construction on the A-Line from Claremont to Montclair is expected to begin later in 2025 with completion by 2030. The A-Line is expected to enter into Fare Operations no later than early 2031.