Gold Line to the Eastside: 87% complete!

Our traffic guru, Times reporter Steve Hymon, has this photo on the Bottleneck Blog that shows the rapid progress being made on the Gold Line extension into the Eastside. These are the tracks over the 101 Freeway. To be exact, the project is 87% complete (and the construction continues to harm Boyle Heights traffic). But the MTA is pleased. The statement:

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has finished installing twin tracks for the six-mile Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension from downtown Los Angeles to East Los Angeles. “This is a great event not only for the community of East Los Angeles but the entire region that anticipates less traffic and a better quality of life,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “Especially in an era of high gas prices, we need more successful transit projects like this to give county residents a fast and inexpensive public transit alternative to driving solo in their cars.” The $899 million project is ahead of schedule, under budget, and has logged 3.4 million hours of construction without a lost time injury, an unprecedented safety record for a major public works project. It should open next summer.

-- Shelby Grad

Photo credit: MTA