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Two transit organizations — the Metro Gold Line Foothill Construction Authority and Metro Transit-St. Louis — marked milestones for their light-rail projects late last week.

The construction authority's board approved the locally preferred alternative for the 12.3-mile Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension light-rail project from Azusa to Montclair, Calif. The project will include future stations in Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont and Montclair, as well as two new grade-separated crossings.

The project would extend light-rail service between Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, terminating the line at the TransCenter in Montclair, where bus lines from San Bernardino County and Metrolink already connect.

"This is an important next step in our effort to connect Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire by light rail," said Doug Tessitor, the authority's chairman, in a prepared statement.

Meanwhile, Metro Transit-St. Louis and local representatives commemorated the completion of a $10 million light-rail interlocking project near the University of Missouri-St. Louis South MetroLink Station on Natural Bridge Road in St. Louis County.

Launched in 2011, the project involved the installation of a new universal crossover between two roads to allow trains to cross from one track to the other, enabling Metro Transit to support single-track operations and shorten rider delays during scheduled and unplanned disruptions, Metro Transit officials said in a prepared statement.

The project was funded with $8.5 million in federal stimulus dollars, $1.1 million in other federal funding and $289,000 in local financing.

The project's contractors included R.V. Wagner, Railworks Corp., Progress Rail Services, Midvale Electric, Herzog Technologies, Wissehr Electric and Stantec.