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According to unpublished Metro records, last week's crash brings the total to ten serious incidents damaging the Gold Line. In 2018 alone, four crashes have jumped this unsafe freeway barrier: in January, April, October, and last week.
Metro recently revised their project budget upwards. The I-210 Barrier Replacement Project is now forecast to cost $20 million, up from the earlier estimate of $11.08 million. Those figures pertain to just the design costs. Metro has split the project into two projects. Project 1 would be in Arcadia, east of Michillinda Avenue (an area where there have not been any crashes causing damage to the Gold Line - yet), where Metro expects that construction can proceed with no impact to freeway car traffic. Project 2 would be in Pasadena, west of Michillinda. For that stretch, Metro is undertaking costly detailed traffic simulations to quantify construction delays. The studies have been required by Caltrans, which is also insisting on "mitigation" for Metro's project, likely driving up costs and delaying needed safety and reliability improvements for transit riders.
It is no "accident" that Gold Line riders are getting the shaft here. Caltrans is delaying Metro's work to remedy this life-threatening situation.
Caltrans should be paying Metro to accelerate this project. Caltrans should mitigate the danger that their highway project is causing these rail passengers.
Foothill Transit CEO Doran Barnes credits their successes to a "commitment to community," a "spirit of innovation," and fruitful collaborations with numerous partners
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