La Verne Chamber Of Commerce: Gold Line Update, March 7, 2022

Press release from La Verne Chamber of Commerce:

March 07, 2022

As the Glendora to Pomona project segment enters the 20th month of major construction, the project is already 43% complete. As March begins, 95% of the freight track relocation, 80% of the utility relocation, and 74% of the grade crossing reconstruction is now behind us. These are the activities that involve the most risk for the project, so having the majority of these tasks complete provides confidence that the project will be able to reach substantial completion in early 2025, on schedule.
 
This past month, crews continued to work on the remaining grade crossings, the light rail bridges, at the future stations, and also started work on the light rail system. Details below.
 
Grade Crossing Reconstruction Continues: This month, five grade crossings remain under construction and work is getting started to relocate utilities at Garey Ave. in Pomona – the last crossing to begin reconstruction.

At Fulton Rd. in La Verne/ Pomona, crews last month utilized a five-day full closure to relocate the freight track to its new, permanent position (including starting relocation on the new freight bridge over Thompson Creek). This was the second full closure of Fulton Rd., and crews will be returning to the crossing later this year for a third and final full closure to install the light rail tracks and complete the crossing work.
 
At Pasadena Ave in Glendora, the street closure was recently extended through March 27. The delay was caused by a need to change the design for a large Southern California Edison (SCE) vault within the crossing that was discovered once the street was opened up as part of the reconstruction effort. SCE crews recently completed their work at the crossing, and now KPJV is quickly working to complete the remaining grade crossing activities that unfortunately could not be completed until SCE was done with their work and out of the way.
 
At the remaining four crossings (Cataract Ave. and San Dimas Ave. in San Dimas, and A St. and White Ave. in La Verne) crews remain on schedule to complete the work, which includes relocating and protecting underground water, sewer, gas, communications and power lines. Crews will then move on to installing the light rail tracks, installing new safety equipment, and rebuilding the roadways, curbs, gutters, sidewalks and medians.

A handful of other crossings still require additional work and will undergo follow-up closures later this year. That work is mostly above-ground, to install the light rail tracks and relocated freight track through the crossings.

Station Construction: Work is underway on the Glendora and La Verne Stations, as well as at the future parking facility for the Pomona Station.
 
In Glendora, crews continue to make progress constructing the platform for the future Glendora station. Currently, crews are constructing the walls for the platform, as well as pedestrian access ramps on both ends. The ramp on the west end of the station platform will provide riders access to the station from Vermont Ave.; while the east ramp will connect to the pedestrian undercrossing and provide access from Glendora Ave. and the future station parking facility.
 
In La Verne, crews are currently installing underground conduit that will house the communications and power lines for the light rail system and future La Verne station. Crews will soon move on to constructing the station platform itself. And, at the site of the future parking facility for the Pomona station, crews are nearly complete with demolition of several vacated buildings purchased as part of the project (photo, below right). One building will continue to be used by a tenant through the end of March; at which time, it will be turned over to the Construction Authority for environmental testing, remediation and demolition.
 
New Light Rail Bridges Over Major Streets: Nineteen bridges are being built new or renovated as part of the Glendora to Pomona project segment, and as of this month, 36% of that work is now complete. While that overall completion number may not seem high enough, the freight bridges on the project are 94% complete.
 
With the freight bridge work nearly all done, the KPJV structures team is focused on constructing the various light rail bridges. Like the freight bridges, most of the light rail bridges cross water channels and washes along the corridor; but four are being built to carry light rail trains over major streets (three in Glendora and one in San Dimas). Each is required by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to improve safety for both the new light rail system and city streets. Below are updates for these four major bridges (from west to east).

Foothill Blvd./Grand Ave. Bridge (Glendora): Construction is now underway on both ends of the future light rail bridge over the Foothill Blvd./Grand Ave. intersection in Glendora. On both sides of the intersection, crews are constructing the approaches and abutments. The west approach, as seen in the photo below (right), has been under construction since last summer and is the furthest along amongst the various bridge elements. Meanwhile, across the intersection, crews recently began constructing the east approach for the bridge. The retaining walls for both approaches consist of custom form panels that feature the project’s citrus design. When completed, both approaches will measure around 1,300 feet in length.
 
Construction of the walls for the west and east abutments (the supports at both ends of the bridge) are also underway and at different progress points. Crews are currently installing rebar for the walls of the west abutment, while the further-along east abutment just had the first concrete placement.
 
Route 66 Bridge (Glendora): Motorists and pedestrians traveling along Route 66 in Glendora will have noticed the unique design patterns on the two completed columns for the future light rail bridge. With the columns and abutments completed, crews have now begun constructing the falsework for the bridge. The falsework is the temporary support for the super-structure that will cross the street itself.
 
During this work, nightly intermittent lane or bi-directional closures of Route 66 between Hunters Trail and Compromise Line Rd. are taking place. This will continue through March.
 
Lone Hill Ave. Bridge (Glendora): As seen in the photos below, the approach between the new light rail bridges over the San Dimas Wash (west of Lone Hill Ave.) and Lone Hill Ave. continues to take shape. Crews are constructing the retaining walls for the approach, which consist of custom form panels that feature the project’s citrus design.
 
With the west and east abutments completed, construction is now underway on the center columns for the future light rail bridge. As seen in the photo below (right), crews are recently installed the steel cages for the columns. Crews will soon install custom form panels around the steel cages and then place concrete. Once the concrete is cured, crews will remove the forms to reveal the custom design pattern similar to the columns seen at Route 66.
The Lone Hill Ave. bridge will be the largest bridge on the 9.1-mile project from Glendora to Pomona. When completed, the bridge will span 344 feet from abutment to abutment. The super-structure will have a minimum vertical clearance of 24 feet to allow freight trains to travel underneath. This is the one location between Glendora and Pomona where the freight system will switch from south to north positions in the corridor to continue serving customers. Construction will continue on the Lone Hill Ave. bridge through the end of 2022, with long-term lane closures and a few days of full street closures ahead.
 
Bonita Ave./Cataract Ave. Bridge (San Dimas): With the falsework for the new light rail bridge over the Bonita Ave./Cataract Ave. intersection in place and forms installed for the internal walls, crews are starting construction of the super-structure (as seen in the photos below). The super-structure is the portion of the bridge that will carry the light rail trains across the intersection. Iron workers recently started installing rebar by hand within the internal structure of the bridge as they ready it for concrete to be placed. Once this section is complete, the process will be repeated as crews build the entire super-structure.

OCS (Overhead Catenary System) and TPSS (Traction Power Substation) Installation: Throughout the corridor, crews continue to construct the foundations for the overhead catenary system (OCS) poles that will provide electrical power to the light rail trains via overhead wires. Crews are drilling holes, installing steel cages and placing concrete to complete each foundation for the OCS. Hundreds of these foundations will be constructed for the project - each about 200 feet apart.

The power will come from the Traction Power Substations (TPSS) that are being installed about a mile apart throughout the corridor. The TPSS converts AC power from the local utility into DC power that then travels through the OCS to power the light rail system. Crews recently installed the first TPSS on the project (as shown below, left). In all, eight TPSS units will be installed from Glendora to Pomona.
 
Freight Service has Resumed in the Corridor: In February, BNSF freight trains resumed service through the rail corridor between Irwindale and Pomona. The service was suspended in November 2020 as the freight track was relocated to make room for the new light rail system. There still remains some temporary track that will need to be updated in the coming months, as well as a short distance of freight track through Pomona that still needs to be relocated later this year; however, with the majority of the freight track relocation work completed, crews have started building the light rail system.
 
 
 

This press release was produced by La Verne Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed here are the author’s own.