JV Gets Green Light on $486M Foothill Extension

MONROVIA, CA-The Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority has issued a full notice to proceed to Foothill Transit Constructors—A Kiewit Parsons Joint Venture for the $486 million Foothill Extension from Pasadena to Azusa light rail alignment project. The notice affords the joint venture the ability to implement all aspects of the design-build contract, including design and construction of the 11.5 miles of tracks, stations, crossing, bridges, utilities, maintenance facility and more. The total project budget is $735 million.

“The Authority board awarded the contract to the Kiewit Parsons team in July 2011 with a limited scope of design and pre-construction activities,” says Habib Balian, CEO of Construction Authority, who adds that the action “gives the contractor the go-ahead to complete the entire project and keeps us on schedule for construction completion in 2015.”

In July, the Construction Authority was in the process of working to meet two major conditions placed on the project by Metro, which limited the availability of funds. The Authority issued the interim notice to proceed at that time to allow the contractor to begin work on the design and pre-construction phases of the project while the Authority continued work to meet the two funding conditions. The first condition—BNSF’s abandonment of the rail right-of-way west of Irwindale—was completed in February. The second condition—full control over more than 50% of the land needed for the project’s 24-acre maintenance facility–was met late last month.

“It took a significant effort to overcome these two funding conditions,” says Balian. “However, with the help of our partners at numerous agencies (including Metro, the corridor cities, Caltrans and others), the conditions have now been met, enabling the Kiewit Parsons team the opportunity to continue with their plan for major construction to begin this fall.”

As GlobeSt.com previously reported, when Kiewit Parsons was awarded the contract to build the Foothill Extension, board chairman and Glendora Mayor Doug Tessitor said that the Kiewit-Parsons JV “presented the best of both worlds: the top-ranked technical proposal and the lowest bid.” The project is estimated to create nearly 7,000 jobs and $1 billion of economic output during construction, according to Christine Cooper, director of the economy and policy analysis group at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. 

The extension is a $1.4 billion project, partially funded by Los Angeles County’s Measure R, which will add stations in the cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa. Once completed, the Pasadena-to-Azusa segment will be handed over to Metro for testing and pre-revenue service. The Construction Authority anticipates releasing the draft environmental impact report for the Azusa-to-Montclair segment later this year.