Four teams submit proposals for Glendora to Montclair Foothill extension

A rendering of the San Dimas station. | Credit: Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority has received proposals from four teams that aim to secure the Glendora to Montclair Alignment Design-Build Contract for work on the authority’s 12.3-mile, six-station Foothill Gold Line light-rail extension.

The extension is to be funded by Measures M and R in Los Angeles County, Measure I in San Bernardino County and the state of California’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, an SB1 program that is awarded proceeds from the Cap and Trade auction and the recent gas tax increase, officials said.

The proposals were submitted by Sept. 12 and include each team’s technical approach to completing the design and construction of the project, the teams’ management methods, proposed key personnel, financial bid information and more.

Throughout the next several weeks, six committees of transportation and industry experts, attorneys, financial professionals and partner agencies are set to evaluate the proposals and then will convene to provide their recommendations.

“The Construction Authority will once again use a ‘best value’ approach to evaluating the proposals,” explained the authority’s CEO, Habib F. Balian. “Best value allows us to judge the team’s technical merits and approach, as well as their bid price, and judge both critical evaluation factors as approximately equally important; ensuring we are able to hire a highly qualified team at the right price.”

Procurement for the Alignment Design-Build Contract began in November 2017, when a Request for Qualifications was issued.

Seven teams submitted Statements of Qualification, and the following four teams were deemed most qualified and shortlisted to compete for the work: AECOM | Stacy and Witbeck JV; Herzog Rados Lane, a joint venture; Kiewit-Parsons, a joint venture; and the San Gabriel Valley Transit Partners (STP), a joint venture of Fluor and Ames.

“These are four highly qualified teams with significant experience designing and building projects like this one,” Balian said. “It will come down to their unique approach to completing this project, who they propose to lead critical roles on their team and the experience of those individuals, and of course their all-inclusive bid price to design and construct the project that will ultimately decide who will win the work.”

Officials expect that the contract will be awarded within the coming months and will outline responsibilities for all elements of the 12.3-mile light-rail extension, with the exception of parking.

Major construction is set to begin in early 2020 and include two construction phrases.

First, crews will rebuild and relocate the freight and Metrolink systems that currently operate in the middle of the rail corridor. After the relocation is done, crews will begin to build the light-rail system.

Completion for the project work is expected to occur in 2026. Officials said that during construction alone, the Glendora to Montclair project is predicted to generate nearly 17,000 jobs, more than $2.6 billion in economic output, more than $1 billion in labor income and nearly $40 million in tax revenues.