Foothill Gold Line station dedicated in California

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority late last week held a dedication ceremony for the Duarte/City of Hope Station in Duarte, Calif.

The event was the first in a series of dedications to mark construction progress of the light-rail line's 11.5-mile segment from Pasadena to Azusa, Calif., officials from the construction authority said in a press release.

The Pasadena-Asuza segment is part of the larger Foothill Gold Line Extension, a nearly $2 billion, 12-station project that also includes building light rail between Azusa and Montclair, Calif.

The former segment is fully funded by Los Angeles County's Measure R sales tax increase. The construction authority is still seeking an additional $1 billion to begin building the segment from Azusa to Montclair.

The Pasadena-Asuza segment is on time and budget to be turned over to the Los Angles Metropolitan County Transportation Authority (Metro) for pre-revenue service in late September, construction authority officials said.

Metro expects passenger service to begin in 2016, although an exact opening date has yet to been determined.