Construction authority issues bid packages for next phase of LA Metro Gold Line

At its January 28, Board meeting, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority Board of Directors issued the following two bid packages, seeking design-build-finance teams to construct Phase 2A (Pasadena to Azusa):  (1) the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Iconic Freeway Structure project and (2) the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the Phase 2A Alignment project. These actions keep the Foothill Extension on schedule to break ground in June 2010 and be completed to Azusa in 2013.

The first
project to break ground in June will be the Iconic Freeway Structure – a 584-foot
bridge stretching diagonally across the 210 Freeway, connecting the existing
Sierra Madre Villa Station (built in the freeway’s median) with the future
Arcadia station south of the freeway. In November 2009, the Construction
Authority completed the first step in the procurement process, by
pre-qualifying six teams to compete to build the IFS. The RFP is the second
step in the process. Proposals are due in late March and a contract will be
awarded in May.

The Phase
2A Alignment Design-Build project will break ground in September 2010 and
include construction of the track, stations, crossings, bridges, utility
systems, signals and a maintenance and operations facility. The RFQ is the
first of the two-step procurement process, and will result in a list of
pre-qualified teams. The Authority will then issue a RFP in late April to these
teams only, and award a contract in September.

The two
design-build bid packages were issued in advance of the Fund Transfer Agreement
and Master Cooperative Agreement being considered at the Metro and Construction
Authority Board meetings next month. The agencies have been meeting regularly
over the last few months and negotiations over the terms of these critical
agreements are going well.

"The
Construction Authority is very pleased with the progress we are making with
Metro," said Construction Authority Board Chairman Keith Hanks. "Both agencies
are committed to finding solutions so the project can get underway. With that,
the board felt confident to issue the bid packages to keep us on schedule for
June."

According
to a study produced by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation earlier
this month, Phase 2A (Pasadena to Azusa) will generate nearly $1 billion in business
revenues, $40 million in tax revenues, and create nearly 7,000 new jobs for the
region during project construction alone.