MTA board delays decision on Gold Line extension - Pasadena Star-News
MTA board delays decision on Gold Line extension
By Dan Abendschein, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/23/2009 04:43:03 PM PDT
LOS ANGELES - County transit officials Thursday delayed making decisions on long-term plans that include committing to build the Gold Line Foothill Extension.
The Metropolitan Transportation Agency board delayed amending its Long Range Transportation Plan because of concerns from area cities about its timeline for completion of highway projects.
According to the agency, 75 of 88 county cities registered complaints about the fact that the plan would not estimate an end date for construction on numerous projects that will be funded by Measure R, the half-cent sales tax increase passed by voters in November.
Among those road projects without a timeline is construction of carpool lanes on the 10 Freeway from Puente Avenue to Citrus Avenue, and another section near the intersection with the 57 Freeway.
The board will consider the plan either in August, or more likely, in September. It will also consider a similar motion, introduced by County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, to add new projects to a request for federal funding, including a request to fund the Gold Line all the way to Claremont.
Current funding levels will only guarantee the line to get as far as the Azusa/Glendora border.
Since the Gold Line is funded by Measure R, MTA officials have said the rail will definitely be added to the plan whenever it is adopted.
The other issue for the project is a decision on how quickly it will receive funding, and the
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timeline for the project's completion. The draft copy of the plan calls for the line to be finished in 2017.
Officials at the Foothill Extension Construction Authority, the independent agency responsible for building the line, have set the timeline for completion at 2013.
Habib Balian,who heads the construction authority, said that the organization is still working to get the line completed by 2013.
He said the authority will look for a contractor who can assume some of the up-front debts of the project and agree to get paid back as the authority receives more of its designated Measure R funds over the years.
dan.abendschein@sgvn.com
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 4451
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