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Yesterday, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) announced it arranged a funding plan for an 11.4-mile Gold Line extension between Pasadena and Azusa, Calif., and likely will break ground on the light-rail project this summer.

The agency plans to transfer up to $810 million in Measure R sales tax receipts and other funds to the Foothill Extension Gold Line Construction Authority, an agency charged with overseeing construction. The extension will be the first Measure R-funded rail project to begin construction, according to LACMTA.

The agency’s long-range plan has slated the Gold Line extension for completion in 2017, but Foothill authority officials plan to speed up the construction process by receiving a loan from the contractor selected to build the line and then repaying it using Measure R funds. The project — which would include stations in Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa — could be completed by mid-2014, Foothill authority officials believe.

The funding agreement doesn’t cover a planned second phase of the Gold Line extension from Azusa to Montclair or a third phase from Montclair to Ontario’s airport.