Eastside Gold Line Extension

Tribune story today on lobbying concerning the possible routing for the Eastside Transit Corridor, phase two.  Several of our junior council members are among those who spoke at some of the regional MTA meetings that have taken place over the past few weeks.

Unless MTA reverses itself and reinserts the Garvey Avenue plan, the only routing with potential to help us in Rosemead would be the one that would parallel the Pomona Freeway. If it runs all the way out to the 605 (and they put in a park and ride out there), it’s possible it could have some slight effect on congestion on the Pomona Freeway. It would also put the Montebello Town Center on a major transit corridor. But there’s not a huge amount of space there for any Rosemead-benefitting development.

The extension might be a rail line, or it could be a dedicated busway, running along the freeway. The busway alternative would be faster and cheaper to build, but would require a connection and possibly some redesign of the Gold Line Station at Pomona and Atlantic.  That would slow travel time, which would make the route less attractive to discretionary transit riders.