The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority announced that the $1.5 billion, four-station Foothill Gold Line Light rail project from Glendora to Pomona reached substantial completion on time and on budget. The design-build contract was completed by Kiewit-Parsons, a joint venture, over the last five years and included all elements of the 9.1-mile project.
The $906.5 million contract included design and construction of the four new light rail stations and associated multi-modal parking facilities, the new light rail systems including track, power, train control, communications and safety equipment, nine miles of relocated freight track, 19 bridges, 21 at-grade crossings, 10 miles of decorative sound and retaining walls, corridor-wide fencing, testing of the new systems, and more.
"The Kiewit-Parsons team did an outstanding job designing and constructing the light rail project, despite significant and unprecedented challenges," stated Construction Authority CEO Habib F. Balian. "It is unusual for a large infrastructure project to come in on time and on budget, but KPJV was partners with the Construction Authority from the start and found ways to innovate and keep the project moving through the OVID-19 Pandemic, historic heatwaves and historic rains. I am pleased to say that we not only completed the project on time and on budget — we ended as partners."
Completion of the Project
Reaching substantial completion means that the foothill Gold Line which adds new Metro A Line stations in the cities of Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, and Pomona, is now ready to be turned over to Metro for Final testing, training of operators and other crews, emergency and safety preparations, pre-revenue operations and simulated revenue service, and final approvals.
This milestone follows months of testing of new systems by the Construction Authority and Kiewit-Parsons. A determination that the new extension is safe to operate has been made, and Metro will be announcing the opening date at a future time.
“Reaching substantial completion is an important achievement for the entire team at the Construction Authority, Metro, our contractors and our corridor cities,” added Balian. “We are proud to be the first light rail project funded by Measure M to have broken ground and to now be completed, and we look forward to handing the project over to Metro as they prepare to put the extension on-line later this year."
Constructing the Extension
The design-build contract for the Foothill Gold Line from Glendora to Pomona was assigned in October 2019 and major construction began in July 2020. Over the last five years, the team logged more than 2.6 million work hours and completed the project with an excellent safety record.
LA County’s Measure M half-cent sales tax provided the majority of funding for the project, along with nearly $100 million of residual funds from the Measure R half-cent sales tax not used to complete the Pasadena to Azusa segment. Additionally, the project was awarded a nearly $300 million grant through CalSTA’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program in 2018.
Approximately $40 million has been set aside for the final project segment from Pomona to Montclair.
The project was also awarded a $650,000 grant from Cal Recycle to use tire-derived aggregate as part of the project. As a result, approximately 548,200 tires were recycled and utilized to reduce noise in areas along the project corridor.
