San Gabriel Valley News - Metro rejected Azusa’s request to delay opening the Azusa Pacific/Citrus College Gold Line station, saying all six stations will open as planned March 5. ..."
Metro Rejects Azusa Delay Request
"The nearly completed APU/Citrus College Gold Line Station in Azusa on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016. Azusa, APU and Rosedale Land Partners have asked Metro not to open it on March 5 but rather delay it. WATCHARA PHOMICINDA — SGV TRIBUNE"
All 6 Stations Will Open March 5
As you may or may not know, a few days ago the City of Azusa, Azusa Pacific University, and Rosedale Land Partners wrote a letter to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (METRO) requesting a delay in opening the newly completed Azusa Pacific / Citrus College Gold Line Station, scheduled to open on March 5th. Metro has just rejected that request.
Azusa and the other two entities made the request because of traffic concerns. Rosedale Land Partners is currently under construction on a 1,250 home development around the station. They expressed concern that the temporary routes to access the station might be overcome with traffic and congestion, and that pedestrian traffic to the colleges might find its way into construction zones.
Mark Ridley-Thomas, chairman of the board of directors of Metro, replied in a letter on Jan. 13 that, “Metro believes it is our duty as responsible stewards of the public trust to open the Gold Line extension with all stations, as expected, on March 5, 2016". He also stated that Metro believes that all safety concerns have been addressed, and that the temporary access arrangements made by the City, the County, and Rosedale Land Partners are sufficient to guarantee safety.
Here's an excellent article by Steve Scauzillofrom the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that describes the access problems and the entire situation in detail.
“It is not an ideal situation. But I think it can work and be safely navigated,” said Metro board member and Duarte Councilman John Fasana. He said trains would not be able to turn around at the downtown station but would still have to travel to the APU/Citrus College station to reverse course, making it confusing to riders.
"Fred Madjar, a board member on one of the Rosedale homeowners associations, said he didn’t have a problem with the temporary circulation plan. “I personally would like to see it open (on time),” he said.
"Linda Galarza, who lives in the housing tract just west of Rosedale, was walking along The Promenade on Thursday. When asked about the March 5 station opening, she said: “I really don’t see a problem.” ..."
The on-time opening of the Gold Line extension seems to be viewed as good news by most homeowners in the area. Along with the reactions we read in this article, I've personally spoken with both homeowners and Realtors who believe that having easy access to mass transit near the home will be good for home values in the area. Personally, I'm not too sure about that. At least not yet. Southern California has not yet displayed quite the level of public acceptance of our Eastern metropolis cousins when it comes to who actually uses mass transit here.
At any rate, the long awaited opening of the Metro Gold Line extension will certainly not hurt home values, and will most definitely provide more convenience for folks wanting to access other areas of the valley and the region via our light rail system.
San Gabriel Valley News
