Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 5, 2014

SECTION B

SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2014

AROUND SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

FOOTHILL GOLD LINE UPDATE: METRO’S SHORT RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN

 
With the Draft Short Range Transportation 
Plan (SRTP) set to go before the Metro board 
of directors for approval in a few weeks, 
Metro is being urged to: include the Foothill 
Gold Line from Azusa to Claremont in the 
“Future Projects – Transit and Highways” 
project list and map; and to recognize the full 
cost and possible completion schedule of the 
project to Claremont as required by statute. 
As reported in the news late last week, 
Metro staff responded by adding a dotted 
line on the SRTP map between Azusa and 
Claremont. However, no progress was made 
to add transparency on the cost or schedule 
elements of the project. The portion of the 
plan that assumes new funding becoming 
available still doesn’t include the full cost 
of the project to Claremont, which has been 
provided to Metro on several occasions.

 As written in a letter sent by U.S. 
Representatives Grace Napolitano, Judy 
Chu and Adam Schiff to Los Angeles Mayor 
Eric Garcetti (who takes over as Metro 
board chair in July), the two segments of 
the Foothill Gold Line are on schedule to 
be completed well within the time frame of 
the SRTP. Although Metro staff has added 
a dotted line to Claremont, it does nothing 
without acknowledging the full cost of 
the Foothill Gold Line to Claremont. The 
unfunded Azusa to Claremont segment of 
the Foothill Gold Line is currently in the 
advanced conceptual engineering phase and 
will eventually be ready for design-build 
in 2017. The project could be completed 
by 2022 should funding become available, 
assuming Metro staff properly amends 
the SRTP to reflect the latest cost estimate 
and completion schedule provided by the 
Construction Authority following the 
project’s environmental clearance last year.

 Meanwhile, on the Pasadena to Azusa 
segment, construction continues to progress 
more visibly as track installation takes place 
throughout the alignment. Below left, you 
can see the finished track switches on the 
alignment along the I-210 Freeway median. 
What’s not visible to most is the work that’s 
taking place on top of the Gold Line Bridge, 
seen below to the right, with crews having 
recently begun track installation on the 
north side of the iconic freeway structure.

Habin F. Balian

REP. SCHIFF ON HOUSE REPUBLICAN DECISION 
TO BLOCK IMMIGRATION REFORM THIS YEAR – 

POLITICAL NEEDS OVER INTERESTS OF NATION

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-
CA) released the following statement after learning 
that Speaker John Boehner has now definitively 
ruled out bringing up immigration reform this 
year:

 “Speaker Boehner’s decision to block a vote on 
immigration reform in the House more than a year 
after bipartisan legislation passed in the Senate, 
is a terrible disservice to millions of families and 
elevates the political needs of his GOP conference 
over the interests of the nation.

”Our broken immigration system is a drag on our 
economy, unnecessarily divides families and is in 
desperate need of repair. If the Speaker scheduled 
the Senate bipartisan bill for a vote in the House 
tomorrow, it would pass. That he is unwilling to 
do so, will be a permanent stain on his record as 
Speaker and require the President to address the 
problem as well as he can through executive order. 
While the President can and should mitigate the 
most damaging consequences of inaction on 
immigration reform through executive action, it 
is not a substitute for a comprehensive solution 
to the problem and Members of Congress must 
continue to do all we can to overcome the Speaker’s 
intransigence.”

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HOBBY LOBBY WHAT IT MEANS TO THE LEFT AND TO THE RIGHT Pg. B4


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