Foothill Gold Line Azusa to Montclair Community Open Houses See Large Turnouts in La Verne, Montclair and Glendora; Three Events Remain for Claremont, San Dimas and Pomona

MONROVIA, Calif., April 27, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Over the last two weeks, the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority hosted the first three of six community open houses about the Azusa to Montclair light rail extension. More than 200 community members attended the open house events - which took place in La Verne, Montclair and Glendora. Attendees were provided information about the Foothill Gold Line segments, the status of the current effort to advance engineering for the Azusa to Montclair segment for a ground breaking as early as 2017, and to meet the city-selected station artists.

"The community is eagerly anticipating the Foothill Gold Line to make it to their cities," stated Lisa Levy Buch, Director of Public Affairs for the Foothill Gold Line. "Nearly everyone's first question is: when will construction start and when will it be done so I can use the train." 

Three additional community open houses are planned over the next two weeks - in the cities of Claremont, San Dimas and Pomona (see details below). Claremont station artist Joyce Kohl, San Dimas station artists Eugene Daub and Anne Olsen Daub, and Pomona station artist Stephen Farley will be at their respective events. Information about all six stations and the future art concepts will be available at all open houses.

"The artists are receiving important feedback from community members that attend these events," added Levy Buch. "Each is showcasing their current concepts and talking one on one with community members to gain their insights and ideas. The feedback they are receiving will be used in the coming months to finalize the art concept for future stations, before being presented to the respective city councils next year."

The Construction Authority anticipates that funding for the Azusa to Montclair segment will be made available through a proposed sales tax measure that will go to Los Angeles County voters for approval in November 2016. If the tax is approved, the project would be ready to break ground in 2017 and be completed in 2023.

REMAINING OPEN HOUSES:     

About the Foothill Gold Line - The Foothill Gold Line is a nearly $2 billion, 12-station extension of the Metro Gold Line light rail system, being overseen by the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, an independent transportation planning and construction agency created in 1998 by the California State Legislature. The project is planned in two segments – Pasadena to Azusa and Azusa to Montclair. The Pasadena to Azusa segment is fully funded by Los Angeles County's Measure R and is on budget and on schedule to be completed in late-September 2015 when it will be turned over to Metro for pre-revenue service. Measure R is funding the majority of the cost associated with the advanced engineering effort currently underway for the Azusa to Montclair segment to ready the project for a design-build procurement in 2017. The Construction Authority is currently seeking the $1 billion needed to construct the Azusa to Montclair segment.

SOURCE Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority