Gold Line Authority Offers Two Parking Designs for Glendora Station

Accommodating 400 parking spaces in limited available land for Glendora’s future Gold Line station left the Gold Line Construction Authority offering two possible design concepts for the station's parking structure.

With construction moving forward with phase 2A of the Gold Line extension project from Pasadena to Azusa, the GLCA wrapped up the final of six city workshops in preparation for phase 2B of construction – the route from Glendora to Montclair.

Slated for a 2017 completion, the widely anticipated extension project would provide a main link from the San Gabriel Valley to Los Angeles.

Attendees at Wednesday’s city workshop at Bidwell Forum received the latest information on the Gold Line route through Glendora, including the planned grade separation at Lone Hill Avenue and parking.

The Glendora station, the first of six planned stations in phase 2B, is planned within Ada and Glendora avenues.

Project manager Gene Kim said when picking station sites, proximity to major city activity, vehicular and pedestrian access, parking, safety and security issues, among others, had been taken into consideration. He said the GLCA picked the current location because of its proximity to the downtown Village Center and other points of interest.

Kim said a station near the suggested Glendora Marketplace was ruled out.

“Of the people that go there, 99 percent of them drive there,” said Kim. “It’s very auto-oriented…we just didn’t think the Marketplace cut it.”

But fitting the recommended 400 parking spaces at the current station site remained to be the biggest challenge in design concepts for the Glendora station. Utilizing already available land, the GLCA offered a Plan A design, a narrow, two level,15-foot-high parking structure stretching from Vermont to Glendora avenues.

But traffic issues at the proposed parking structure entrances at Vermont and Glendora avenues were major concerns for both residents and city staff in attendance.

Kim said subsequent to the scoping meetings in January, the GLCA worked closely with the city in designing the Glendora station parking structure.

“What we heard from the city was some concern about access in the east side,” said Kim. With current heavy traffic and high commercial density in the area, both residents and city staff expressed concern over the potential increased traffic. Kim added that a traffic study of the location is currently being conducted.

Following feedback from city staff, the GLCA came up with a Plan B parking structure -- a three-level, 25-foot structure that would require acquiring land from a current RV storage center and law offices. However, Kim added, the structure would only contain a single entry and exit point at Vermont Ave, generating concerns about increased traffic flow at Vermont Ave.

Aside from traffic issues, attendees also expressed concerns about the number of parking spaces. With 400 spaces, some argued that the number could potentially grow over the years with an increased demand for public transportation.

“The parking spaces were determined through a 2007 concept and you want to look ahead in the future,” said San Dimas resident Harold Leacock. “With the rising gas prices people are going to gravitate to the Gold Line. I just think that the number of parking spaces we have now is inadequate and outdated.”

Following the city meetings, the GLCA will complete an Environmental Impact Review and report their findings. With two potential parking structures, Kim emphasized that only one project will be discussed as length in the EIR. The final structure will be determined after a lengthy analysis, said Kim.

However, some insisted that both alternative structures should  be included in the EIR, a suggestion Kim said was not needed.

“We would only need to go in-depth with the plan that we choose,” said Kim.