Dive Brief:
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The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors last week agreed to pay for an 11.5-mile, $1.4 billion extension to the Gold Line light-rail route despite not having all the necessary funding in place, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
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A voter-approved, half-cent sales tax hike, Measure M, will pay for all but $249 million of the San Gabriel Valley project. It will be the first project financed under Measure M. Metro officials said they will seek the balance from California's Cap and Trade account, which is funded by companies that emit greenhouse gases.
- The Construction Authority will begin preconstruction services such as utility-line relocation for the Gold Line in October. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in September 2018 and will be completed by early 2026.
Dive Insight:
Early this year, Metro officials took the first steps toward getting underway with its $2.4 billion Purple Line extension by awarding a $1.37 billion, second-phase contract to the joint venture of Tutor Perini and O&G Industries. The extension will eventually connect West Los Angeles to downtown and other modes of transportation.
The Purple Line is one of two major transportation projects that city officials hope will demonstrate to the International Olympic Committee that it will be able to handle the massive influx of visitors and athletes if it is selected to host the 2024 Summer Games.
The other is a $2.7 billion people-mover, part of the $5.5 billion Landside Access Modernization Program at Los Angeles International Airport.
LAX officials said the 2.5-mile elevated people mover will relieve traffic congestion in and out of the airport. Back in August 2016, Los Angeles World Airports announced that it had narrowed the list of potential public-private partnership consortia to five, which includes transportation and infrastructure heavy-hitters like Kiewit, Skanska USA, Balfour Beatty and Fluor.
