The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority (Construction Authority) held a press conference to celebrate the 9.1-mile, four-station Foothill Gold Line light rail project from Glendora to Pomona reaching 50% construction completion.

The celebration took place at Rhoads Park in San Dimas, California, just steps away from the project corridor and one of four new light rail bridges being constructed to carry future light rail trains and passengers over major streets. Construction on the project began in July 2020 and, despite building in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to remain on schedule to be completed in early 2025, when it will be turned over to LA Metro for training and pre-revenue service.

“It is a great achievement for our team, our contractor and the entire County of Los Angeles to have been able to keep this important regional infrastructure project on schedule during the first years of the Pandemic,” said Pro Tem Ed Reece, Foothill Gold Line Board chairman. “We are now just a few short years away from delivering light rail to more of the San Gabriel Valley and one step closer to completing our agency mission of connecting Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire by light rail.”

To reach the halfway milestone, the design-build team of Kiewit-Parsons, a Joint Venture (KPJV), with over 350 staff and crew members, have to date expended nearly 1.1 million work hours designing and constructing the various elements that make up the light rail project.

“I want to thank the staff at the Construction Authority, KPJV, and the corridor cities for their dedication and hard work these last three years that ensured the project reached this important milestone on time and on budget,” said Habib F. Balian, Construction Authority CEO. “We still have a lot of work to complete, but I am confident that we will be successful in delivering a great project that will make our County and City partners proud.”

When completed, the light rail project will add new stations to the Metro Gold Line system (currently referred to as the L Line) in the cities of Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, and Pomona, increasing ridership on the Metro system by an estimated 11,600 daily weekday boardings when the extension opens for passenger service. It will provide connections to important regional destinations like the LA County Fairplex, colleges and universities, historic downtowns, museums, regional parks and open space areas, and more.

“Metro aims to be the first choice for transportation for the people of LA County,” said Stephanie Wiggins, CEO of Metro. “Reaching this 50% milestone is moving us closer to that goal by expanding our system and fully connecting the San Gabriel Valley to key county destinations. Thank you to the Metro Board, and all the leaders in the corridor cities that have pushed this project forward; and thank you to all the workers who have helped get us to this point. Most of all, thank you to the voters who supported Measure M and Measure R, without whom none of this would have been possible.”