As the Gold Line gets closer to the construction stage, starting Arcadia, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority has launched a comprehensive new informational Gold Line web site and elected Glendora Mayor Pro Tem Doug Tessitor as chairman of the Board of Directors. At Wednesday’s (Dec. 15) board meeting, Claremont Mayor Pro Tem Sam Pedroza was elected first vice chairman, and Los Angeles City Councilmember Ed Reyes is second vice chairman. Tessitor has been a member of the Glendora City Council since 2003, the Pasadena City appointee to the Construction Authority Board since January 2009, and has served on the Authority’s Joint Powers Authority board since November 2008.
“This is a very exciting time for the project and the Construction Authority, and I am honored to lead the board as we begin construction on the nearly $700 million project that will connect communities from Arcadia to Azusa to the entire LA County system, create thousands of jobs and generate nearly a billion dollars for our region,” said Tessitor. He said he plans to continue work on the Gold Line until it reaches Glendora and then LA/Ontario International Airport.
The Construction Authority’s new web site is intended to capture the aesthetic essence of the San Gabriel Valley in its design while providing ease in navigation, robust information sharing, dynamic community calendar features, upgraded media content and more. “Our new site was designed to be a one-stop shop of information about the program of projects underway at the Construction Authority,” stated Habib F. Balian, CEO of the Construction Authority. “Community members, elected officials and others will now be able to easily access the latest construction notices, meeting announcements, and more for Phases 2A (Pasadena to Azusa), 2B (Glendora to Montclair) and Phase 2C (Ontario Airport Extension).”
Included on the site, which was designed by Pasadena Advertising, are pages for each construction phase, project fact sheets, logos, maps, press releases, news stories, contact information for all Construction Authority staff, and a “Videos” page. Each corridor city (from Los Angeles to Ontario) has a page on the site, which includes important links to community specific information.
The Arcadia page on the Gold Line site (http://www.foothillextension.org) features specific information about plans for the station as well as artist renderings for the station and the transit plaza adjacent to the 300-car parking garage. Details about the artist behind the 22-foot weather vane sculpture to be part of the area are also included, as well as an overview of the city itself.
A summary of the overall project is just one click away from the Arcadia page. Here are highlights from that summary:
The first $18.5 million design-build contract was awarded in June for design and construction of the 584-linear-foot rail bridge to be built over the eastbound lanes of the I-210 freeway in Arcadia. The contract for construction on the bridge is scheduled to be awarded in April 2011, with construction to begin immediately the same month. Proposals are due in January for the approximately $450 million contract to finalize design and construct the 11.5-miles of track, six stations in the cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, and Azusa, crossings, a 25-acre maintenance facility and more. Construction on the stations, track, crossings, bridges, etc. will begin in Spring 2012.
Phase 2A, fully funded by Measure R, broke ground June 26, 2010, and will be built along the former Pacific Electric right-of-way, purchased by Metro for the project in the early 1990s. Construction will be complete in late 2014. Three contracts will be awarded for the following project elements over the next two years: (1) I-210 Bridge, (2) Parking facilities, and (3) All other elements (stations, track, crossings, M&O facility, utilities, etc.). The project is estimated to cost a total of $690 million (including the purchase of trains and equipment). Construction alone is estimated to generate nearly $1 billion of business output, $40 million in tax revenue and 7,000 jobs.
— By Scott Hettrick