About the Foothill Extension and Construction Authority

The Foothill Extension will continue the Metro Gold Line light-rail line from its current terminus in East Pasadena through the cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont and Montclair. Once completed, a trip from Montclair to downtown Pasadena would take just over 40 minutes and further to Los Angeles will take approximately 75 minutes.

The Foothill Extension is planned in two phases - Phase 2A, from Pasadena to Azusa; and Phase 2B, from Azusa to Montclair.  Additionally, a possible extension to LA/Ontario International Airport is being studied.

The Construction Authority is starting construction on Phase 2A and has completed extensive work on Phase 2B.  The agency has completed the necessary planning studies, drafted environmental reports (per state and federal guidelines) and completed conceptual engineering for both phases (including a comprehensive community-based station design and public art approval process in 2006).  In 2007, Phase 2A received final environmental clearance under CEQA, and in 2010 received full funding.  Phase 2B must still complete a final environmental report, which is currently underway.

Although not formally part of the Foothill Extension project, the Construction Authority completed a study to understand the feasibililty of extending the line from Montclair to LA/Ontario International Airport.  The initial study concluded that the extension is feasible and provided a number of potential route options to connect the line to the airport.

The Construction Authority

The Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority is an independent transportation planning and construction agency created in 1998 by the California State Legislature, SB 1847. Its sole purpose was to immediately resume design, contracting and construction of the Los Angeles to Pasadena Metro Gold Line (formerly the Pasadena Blue Line) which had been suspended by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) in the same year. The newly formed construction authority completed its charge in just under three years with the 13.7-mile line opened in 2003 on time and under budget. For this leg of the project, state and local funding (Proposition A and C) were already in place to fund the project.

The same legislation that created the Construction Authority also dictated its role to plan and construct “any fixed mass transit guide way eastward to Claremont.” This was later extended to Montclair to include the city's regional transit hub, the “Transcenter,” and gain the support and participation of the San Bernardino Council of Governments.

Project Funding

Completion of Phases 2A and 2B of the Foothill Extension is estimated to cost $1.2 billion (not including the airport extension).  The majority of the funding is anticipated to come from Los Angeles County's Measure R sales tax, which went into effect in July 2009.

On March 25, 2010, the Metro Board of Directors unanimously approved the terms for the Funding and Master Cooperative Agreements between the Construction Authority and Metro.  This was a significant milestone for the project - laying out the framework and mechanisms for $810 million to be allocated to the project between 2010 and 2019, and also formalizing the roles and responsibilities of both agencies during design and construction of the project.

The majority of these funds will be used for Phase 2A.  Additional funding will be needed to fill the gap and complete the line.

Click Here to view a current project fact sheet.
Click Here to see "Before and After" photos of the Los Angeles to Pasadena Metro Gold Line - Phase 1.
Click Here to link to information on future stations.