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On July 1st, our taxes in LA County increased a half penny on the dollar to fund a mix of transportation projects, whether they be rail, highway or something else, thanks to Measure R, which was voted in by the public last November. This Thursday morning, Metro will hold a Measure R committee meeting (.pdf) to discuss aspects of that and part of that discussion will be the possibility of moving up the timelines of three projects.
Those projects are moving opening dates of the regional connector in downtown from 2025 to 2018, the second Gold Line Eastside Extension to 2035 to 2018 and the Green Line to LAX from 2028 to 2017.
That has Gold Line Foothill Extension advocates worried.
"We will be at the workshop to ask that the schedule be amended to accelerate the Foothill Extension by four years," wrote Habib Balian, the CEO of the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority, in an e-mail reprinted on a blog dedicated to the rail line. "Speaking of the opening date for Measure R projects, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has set a goal to 'build eight Measure R rail projects on time or ahead of schedule' in his second term in office. We are very supportive of his efforts, especially his plan for the Foothill Extension."
In Villaraigosa's plan, he envisions building eight rail projects on time or ahead of schedule including the Gold Line Foothill Extension to Azusa by 2013.
