Los Angeles Metro Gold Line Extension moving forward

Railway Track and Structures, June, 2007

Los Angeles Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension construction is halfway completed, is on time and under budget, and construction workers have gone more than 1,000 days without a lost-time incident since construction began July 1, 2004. Opening date is scheduled for late 2009.

The six-mile light rail line will feature eight new stations (two underground) and will go from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles via the Little Tokyo/Arts District and Boyle Heights to Atlantic/Pomona Boulevards in East Los Angeles. The cost of the project is $898 million.

Construction of at-grade street level stations at Atlantic and Little Tokyo/Arts District is under way along the right-of-way. Workers are installing rail tracks and overhead power lines. The bridge over the 101 Freeway is complete and installation of the overhead power system and track has begun.

Improvements along First Street in Boyle Heights and Third Street in East Los Angeles at the station sites are moving forward, including street reconstruction, paving, new color sidewalks, crosswalks, landscaping, street lights and traffic signals.

At the two underground stations, work on interior walls in Boyle Heights/Mariachi Plaza and the track level concrete floor of Soto Station are in process. Tunneling operations concluded in late 2006 and LA Metro construction crews are working on the concrete track slab, walkway, and cross-passages inside the 1.7-mile twin tunnels beneath Boyle Heights. The concrete work for the East and West Portals entrance to the tunnels is almost complete.