Foothill Gold Line Receives Project Achievement Award

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority (Construction Authority) has been recognized for the successful completion of the Foothill Gold Line light rail project from Pasadena to Azusa with a Project Achievement Award for design-build projects worth more than $100 million by the Construction Management Association of America’s Southern California Chapter. The award follows the on-time, on-budget completion of the nearly $1 billion, 11.5-mile, six-station light rail extension last September.

“We are very proud of our record of success and it is always nice to be recognized,” stated Construction Authority Board Chairman, Doug Tessitor. “It is unusual for a billion dollar public infrastructure project to come in on time and on budget, and we believe that using the design-build process and hiring three excellent design-build teams were central to that success.”

The Construction Authority used three design-build teams over the course of the five-year project; each completed their contract on time and on budget. The largest contract was the alignment design-build contract, completed by Foothill Transit Constructors – a Kiewit-Parsons Joint Venture. It included design and construction of all elements of the light rail project – track installation and relocation, stations, operations campus, bridges, at-grade crossings, power and systems elements, etc. – with the exception of the Gold Line Bridge over the I-210 Freeway and five intermodal parking facilities (each completed on time and on budget by Skanska USA and Webcor teams, respectively).

“I believe the Construction Authority’s design-build process should be a model for other agencies,” added Tessitor. “We were able to manage the needs of three design-build teams, five different cities, and many other third-party agencies using design-build because the process allows for flexibility and is able to adjust quickly to new information and constituents’ needs.”

The Foothill Gold Line from Pasadena to Azusa broke ground in June 2010. Over the five-year program of design and construction, the project logged more than 2.4 million work hours and completed with an excellent safety record. It was estimated by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation that nearly 7,000 jobs were created during the last five years of construction.

About the Foothill Gold Line – The Foothill Gold Line is a nearly $2 billion, 12-station extension of the Metro Gold Line light rail system, being overseen by the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, an independent transportation planning and construction agency created in 1998 by the California State Legislature. The project is planned in two segments – Pasadena to Azusa and Glendora to Montclair. The Pasadena to Azusa segment is fully funded by Los Angeles County’s Measure R. Metro will start passenger service on Saturday, March 5, 2016. Measure R is funding the majority of the cost associated with the advanced conceptual engineering work currently underway for the Glendora to Montclair segment, which will ready the project for a design-build procurement in 2017. The Construction Authority is currently seeking the $1 billion needed to construct the Glendora to Montclair segment. http://foothillgoldline.org/