Lawmakers seek federal support for light-rail extension
Elected officials and transportation managers are talking with President Biden’s cabinet and key congressional leaders about including funds for a Metro L Line extension from Pomona to Montclair in the president’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan.
While Biden’s plan lays out money for roadways, bridges, water systems, fiber optics and schools, it also sets aside $85 billion for mass transit projects, a potential fit for the planned 3.3-mile light-rail extension to Montclair that fell short of money two years ago.
Rep. Norma Torres, D-Pomona, who helped write the bill while in the state Legislature to extend the L Line (formerly the Gold Line) from its current terminus in Azusa to Montclair, has been talking to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which funds and operates the light-rail line, and U.S. Transpor
tation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about including the extension in Biden’s plan.
“I’ve been talking about it, identifying projects,” she said. “Although we are still in the early stages of pointing out line items, this would be extremely unfortunate to miss this opportunity.”
As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, she’s plans to invite Buttigieg to the committee next week for more detailed talks. She wants to get L.A. Metro as well as the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, the agency overseeing construction of the L Line, to Washington to lobby for the next phase of the rail project.
“I want to make sure they are prepared to help me make the case,” Torres said.
The L Line from L.A.’s Union Station to Pasadena opened July 26, 2003. An extension to East Los Angeles followed in November 2009, then the line was built to the Azusa/Glendora border, opening March 5, 2016. A 12.3-mile extension project to Claremont, then crossing the Los Angeles County border into Montclair in San Bernardino County, was inked in October 2019, but the price tag soared more than a halfbillion dollars over budget, forcing the project to end in Pomona. Work is underway on the 9-mile, $2.1-billion extension from Azusa to Pomona.
A two-year window was offered by the contractors to finish the project — a 3.3mile jaunt from Pomona to Claremont and Montclair — that expires in September. Most likely that deadline will be missed, meaning the next phase would be contracted separately, should funds become available.
The complicated project in Claremont involving tearing out the existing Metrolink station and relocating it, while building an L Line station and four train bridges over Monte Vista Avenue, Garey Avenue, Towne Avenue and Indian Hill Boulevard, will cost about $450 million. It would cost another $95 million to link with the Montclair Transit Center.
A $550 million to $600 million request of the federal government “would be a tremendous amount,” said Habib Balian, CEO of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority on Thursday. Plus, Torres said the feds would require a 20% match.
Most likely the grant money would come to L.A. Metro and it would be up to the large transportation agency to move the money toward the project. But there are more hurdles.
Previously, construction projects on the lightrail line always relied on funds from local tax measures, such as L.A. County’s measures M and R and some state dollars. To receive federal dollars, the project would need to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. This requires a federal environmental review.
“Complying with NEPA could take two to three years to complete or longer,” Balian said.
The Pomona to Montclair extension was originally scheduled to open in 2028. Even with federal dollars, however, it could be pushed back to 2030 or 2031.
Torres said local transportation officials realize “federalizing” the project is the only way to get the extension built.
“There just isn’t enough state and local dollars to get it completed,” she said, saying she spoke with Balian about the federal environmental review.
Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval, a member of both the L.A. Metro and Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority boards, said the agencies have talked about federalizing the extension. But he had not heard from Torres about anything concrete, he said on Thursday.
Montclair Mayor ProTem Bill Ruh said he has communicated with Torres.
“I am amenable to anything to get the Gold Line into Montclair,” he said Thursday. “It is important to the regional economy. And we need it in Montclair.”
His city has approved several transit-oriented housing and mixed-use projects that rely on proximity to a light-rail, electric trolley line that takes commuters to Pasadena and Los Angeles and back with only seven-minute wait times during peak hours.
“We are lobbying for it,” Ruh said. “I have encouraged residents to send letters to their representatives in Washington.”
The shorter portion of the extension in Montclair would be paid for by the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, whose executive director has said there are other, more affordable projects available that would accomplish the same goals. One of those is an amplification of Metrolink service from Rancho Cucamonga to Pomona using cleaner diesel trains and eventually, zero-emission trains.
However, the SBCTA lists the L Line extension from Claremont to Montclair in its 2019 projects report update at a capital cost of $95,200, for which it has secured about $80 million, meaning the project has a $15.2 million funding gap, documents show. The agency estimates it will cost about $5,300 a year to operate.
The SBCTA declined to comment on this story. The projects’ report says building the Montclair portion of the light-rail line “is dependent on [L.A.] Metro completing construction to the county line.”