$73M Transportation Center Moves Dirt

BURBANK, CA-Those who follow @GlobeStcom on Twitter and @GlobeStLIVE may have seen a post teasing the announcement, but GlobeSt.com has learned that McCarthy Building Cos. has recently started construction on the new $72.7 million Bob Hope Airport Regional Intermodal Transportation Center. The facility is being built to “provide seamless connectivity for airport, train and bus passengers, as well as rental car customers and bicyclists,” according to a prepared statement.

As part of the project design intended to meet LEED Silver certification standards, sustainable construction methods such as maintaining proper indoor air quality, utilizing local labor and materials and recycling construction waste will be employed.  Solar panels generating roughly 1.5 megawatts of clean energy will be installed on top of the RITC by the City of Burbank, according to the release.

The 520,000-square-foot project includes construction of a three-level consolidated rental car parking structure with a car wash and fueling system; a rental car customer service building; and a ground level bus transit station for MTA, Burbank Bus, Amtrak and charter/shuttle buses. The bus station features an open air design complemented by 16 art panels adorning all three levels of the structure. Work also entails construction of an elevated, 1,100 foot-long moving walkway which will transport rental car customers and rail and bus passengers between the RITC and airport terminal.

According to Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority president Chris Holden, “For the Airport Authority, this project represents our ongoing commitment to improving convenience for our passengers and Southern California, while at the same time improving quality of life for our neighbors. This project will reduce traffic and promote use of alternative public transportation while providing a state-of-the-art rental car facility for our airport patrons.”

Scheduled for completion in summer 2014, the project is located along Empire Avenue directly across from the Bob Hope Airport Train Station, on a 20-acre site formerly used as a parking lot. A separate parking structure—not a part of McCarthy’s RITC project—is being built at the airport to replace auto parking spaces currently located on land that will become the site of the center.