City Officials, Business Owners Concerned About Planned Myrtle Avenue Closure

A proposed plan to fully close a section of Myrtle Avenue for up to five months as part of the Gold Line construction has both Monrovia officials and local business owners on edge.

Chris Burner, chief project officer for the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority, outlined the proposed plan at the Monrovia City Council meeting Tuesday night.

The closure would be for the section of Myrtle north of Duarte Road and south of Railroad Avenue.

"Any closure of any length of time for Myrtle we understand is a significant impact to the city," Burner said.

The section of Myrtle would close around mid-January for approximately five months but Burner said he is hopeful that it can be shortened.

Mayor Mary Ann Lutz said that the city was aware that Myrtle would be closed for periods of time but not five months and not fully.

She called for another meeting between city and Gold Line officials so that other options for moving forward wth the project could be explored without the full closure of five months.

"This is different than any of the other streets in our city," Lutz said. "This is a major street in our city. We have major businesses in our city that are on this street. We have to try and find some way that we can mitigate this but still get the work done."

Burner said that the full closure had been discussed before but not the length of five months.

If a partial closure was done, it would extend the work on Myrtle out to 10 months, subsequently affecting other streets planned for construction and the overall schedule of the project, he said.

Burner said the closure of Myrtle would only happen after California reopens, which is slated for mid-January.  Duarte will remain fully open, as will Myrtle south of Duarte.

The length of the closure is due to work on utilities, as well as plans to add a traffic signal at the intersection of Pomona and Myrtle, he said. The north median, north of the railroad tracks, will be extended 200 feet, which will prohibit left-hand turns on to and out of Railroad Avenue. That's a safety requirement by the California Public Utilities Commission, he said.

"Extending that median keeps people from making turns to try to go around gates," he said.

Construction plans also include flattening the lump in Myrtle Avenue.

"When we're done with it, it will be a nice, smooth intersection," he said.

Detour routes will be in place for trucks and vehicles and so that businesses can remain accessible, but some are not so certain.

Brenda Trainor, co-owner of Wonder Dog Ranch, said the closure would hurt her business. Customers won't be able to get to her business and the detour route directs traffic around Wonder Dog Ranch, she said,

"I am a major major Metro fan," she said.  "What concerns me here is that there has been no communication to the seriously impacted small business that are consumer driven and customer based that are going to be affected by this closure."

Notices sent during the busy Christmas season won't be effective, she added.

Burner said that Foothill Extension staff plan to soon get the word out about the Myrtle closure in a variety of ways including community walks, which started last week, construction notices, Nixle alerts, posts on the website and in the newsletters, an insert in the water bill, and advertising. 

A meeting with the city also will take place to review alternative options, as Lutz requested, and information will be posted on the city's website.

Councilman Tom Adams asked if officials from the Foothill Extension would consider getting the customer lists of businesses in the affected area and contacting them about the closure.

"These businesses are on Railroad Avenue and Railroad Avenue is going to be hard to find," he said. "The economy is hard enough as it is without impacting someone's wallet."

Adams also asked if some sort of claim for relief could be filed by business owners to try and recoup some of the losses related to construction.

Burner said that staff can help get the word out to the clients of local businesses about the closure.

As for the recouping of profits lost, other Foothill Extension officials would be able to find out about that and let the city know, he said.

Resident Gwendolyn Jones said she feels that city is not getting what it needs from the Gold Line in the short term and urged residents to contact officials.

"Yes we need transporttion and we need this Gold line, but we are being held hostage," she said. "And when they make their suggestions as to how long these things are going to take to happen, you just get one fairytale after another."

City Manager Francis Delach said he would get back to the City Council with various options for getting the work done on Myrtle, including alternatives to the five-month closure, and the pros and cons for each by at least the Jan. 7 meeting.