RTD staff recommends Balfour Beatty Infrastructure proposal for SE rail extension

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
image description
RTD

Staff of Denver's Regional Transportation District (RTD) recommended that the RTD Board of Directors move forward with a proposal from Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc. to design and build the Southeast Rail Extension on July 14.

 

The Balfour Beatty Infrastructure team includes Parsons Brinckerhoff (design); Capitol Management (DBE/SBE/WIN); Transit Safety & Security Solutions (system safety); Systems Consulting, LLC (quality assurance) and Communication Infrastructure Group (public information).

Dave Genova, RTD’s interim general manager said Balfour Beatty Infrastructure’s proposal “offered the best value and moves us forward to complete another critical FasTracks project.”

The Southeast Rail Extension will build an additional 2.3 miles of light-rail line that will run along the west side of I-25 from the Lincoln Station and then cross over the Interstate and run along the east side of the highway to the south side of RidgeGate Parkway in Douglas County.

RTD has set the total budget for the extension at $233.1 million, which includes $34 million spent through 2014 on environmental analysis, preliminary engineering and design and acquisition of eight light-rail vehicles. The remaining $198.7 million in cost will be financed through a combination of federal, private and local funds. The Federal Transit Administration will fund half the project through its New Starts program. The project has been accepted into FTA’s New Start’s engineering phase and is included in President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget.

The RTD Board is expected to take formal action on a two-phased contract award at its July 28 meeting. The second construction phase is dependent on award of the federal grant from FTA.

Once approved by the RTD Board, Balfour Beatty Infrastructure would begin design on the project in the fall with construction expected to start in spring 2016. The projected opening of the extension is 2019 and the Balfour Beatty Infrastructure proposal commits to completing construction of the line by early 2019.

 

Tags: