The construction authority responsible for building the A Line extension in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley celebrated on Thursday after receiving nearly $800 million to help extend the line to Claremont and Montclair, making it the first light-rail train to cross into San Bernardino County.

Money arrived in two steps: From the California State Transportation Agency to L.A. Metro on Oct. 31. Then on Nov. 14, the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority board voted to receive $798 million from Metro that will be used to award a contract for the 3.2-mile extension project.

Metro’s commitment is to take the light-rail line from Pomona to Claremont. The next mile into the small city of Montclair in the Inland Empire will cost about $80 million, money set aside for construction by the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority.

The two portions bring the estimated cost of the project to $878 million, Metro reported. A bid from the contractor, Kiewit Infrastructure Engineers, is expected in January, said Habib Balian, CEO of the Gold Line construction authority. The contract would be awarded between March and May, with groundbreaking in the fall. Completion is expected in 2030, he said.

Authority board members talked of finally receiving the gap-closure dollars after the project was truncated in 2019 to only reach La Verne because it ran out of money. It took another $126 million from the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments to build it to Pomona, said Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval.

The Azusa to Pomona extension will be finished on Jan. 3, 2025. Metro will open the service a few months later, enabling riders to go from Long Beach to Los Angeles, Pasadena and Pomona. It is the longest light-rail line in the nation.

John Fasana, a former board member of both the authority and the Metro board and a former Duarte mayor, spent decades promoting the Gold Line, the original name that many still use.

“We did a lot of things to keep this line moving forward,” he told the authority board, during its meeting Thursday in Monrovia. “In 2008, we got it to Pasadena (from Union Station in Los Angeles). It was about countywide mobility. But I would say it was a lot tougher than it needed to be.”

He spoke later during an interview about opposition to the line from then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who did not want it to go farther than Pasadena, Fasana said. The push to Claremont and now into San Bernardino County was championed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, said Fasana.

“He ushered in a more cooperative period,” he said.

Even after it reached Pasadena, the first leg, many said no one would ride it. “All that was proven to be wrong,” Fasana added.

Cliff Hamlow, a former Glendora council member and authority board member, said he joined many cities in the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire in convincing an L.A.-leaning Metro board to fund the extension to Montclair.

“It was a matter of wresting the control from Los Angeles. They didn’t believe the San Gabriel Valley existed,” Hamlow said. “It is exciting that it will arrive in Claremont and Montclair.”

Montclair City Councilmember and authority board member Bill Ruh at one point held back tears before voting to accept the funding for the extension.

“We are very thrilled about this. This is a decades-long journey for me,” he said after the meeting. “It is the realization of a dream for the residents of Montclair and all the families in our region who depend on mass transit.”

When funding for the extension was turned down by the state in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Ruh and Montclair Mayor John Dutrey emphasized the need for Inland Empire residents to hop on a light-rail system that they can ride to jobs in Pasadena, Los Angeles and Long Beach.

They saw the value in a light-rail ride for $1.75 that connects the two counties, saying it will appeal to commuters who normally drive the 210, 10 and 50 freeways east in the mornings, then west in the evening, making these some of the most gridlocked freeways in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

Sandoval, in a speech at L.A. Metro on Oct. 31, spoke about the movement of young Angelenos into Montclair, Upland, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana, finding less expensive housing options, while commuting to work in LA County daily.

“It is absolutely essential to connect San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County together,” said Ruh, adding that people don’t notice a county line when they cross it. “Residents drive across these county lines every single day,” he added.

The progressive city of Montclair has planned for housing around the Montclair station, near its transit center. It has laid out specific plans for more housing near where the A Line eastern-most station will rest. Likewise, Pomona and Glendora are preparing plans for housing near their stations.

Claremont Councilmember Ed Reece was overwhelmed with the idea of his small city being linked up to trains to L.A., and soon to the Inland Empire.

“This project has had many ups and downs. I am so excited with where we are today that my soul is overflowing, it’s overflowing with excitement, overflowing with appreciation. I will never forget this day when we all came together to celebrate this milestone,” Reece said.