Green Light to Construction on Gold Line Foothill Extension (VIDEO)

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The latest news from the Gold Line Construction Authority is that the authority has issued a “full notice to proceed” to contractor Kiewit Parsons Joint Venture, thus keeping the line on track for completing construction in the second half of 2015 and then handing the project over to Metro, which will operate the line.

The Gold Line Foothill Extension will, as the name implies, extend the Gold Line for 11.5 miles from the Sierra Madre Villa station in eastern Pasadena to the Azusa/Glendora border (interactive map here). The Measure R-funded project will include new stations in Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, two in Azusa and the closest one to in Irwindale.

Work on the new rail bridge that will carry the tracks over the eastbound 210 freeway began last year and has progressed quickly. Work on the rest of the line, until now, has been limited to working on design and pre-construction activities while the Construction Authority worked to clear two hurdles: obtain 50 percent of the land needed for a maintenance yard and wait for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway to turn over its rail right-of-way west of Irwindale. Major construction is now expected to begin in the fall 2012.

This story was originally published in The Source, a blog from Los Angeles Metro.