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Construction to begin on new Gold Line Extension from Pasadena to Azusa
Metro Gold Line rail car at the Allen Station in Pasadena.
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Construction crews break ground today on the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension. The new light rail line will add 11 miles of track from Pasadena west to Azusa.
The Foothill Extension is the first of a dozen rail projects that voters paid for through Measure R. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority - Metro - voted unanimously last March to transfer $810 million in Measure R sales tax money to the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority.
“Anyone who lives in the San Gabriel Valley and has to slog on the 210 during rush hours knows just how jammed it is all the time," said Metro spokesman Marc Littman. "So this is a project that’s gonna add not only relief to those commuters, but it’s going to create 7,000 jobs, 2,600 of those in construction alone. It’s also gonna generate $1 billion in business revenues and $40 billion in new tax revenues.”
The authority expects to complete the line in about four years. The light rail line will follow the path of the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. Metro plans station stops in Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, and Azusa.
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