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On Friday, the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority announced it reached an agreement with the city of Monrovia, Calif., and its redevelopment agency to purchase a 14-acre site for a planned light-rail extension’s maintenance and operations (M&O) facility. The authority plans to build the 11.5-mile Foothill Extension from Pasadena to Azusa, Calif., by 2014.

“This agreement was critical to keeping the project on schedule,” said authority Chief Executive Officer Habib Balian in a prepared statement. “Owning half of the land for the M&O facility is the final condition needing to be met before significant funds could be transferred to the authority to build the project.”

The authority’s board will consider the land transaction at its July 27 meeting and the Monrovia city council will vote on the agreement in September.

During Wednesday's meeting, the authority’s board also will consider awarding the phase 2A alignment design-build contract for the extension to Foothill Transit Constructors, a Kiewit-Parsons joint venture. Staff members have recommended awarding the project to the joint venture, whose $485.8 million design-build proposal is $123 million and $78.2 million lower than the two other short-listed bidders, according to the authority.

Kiewit was the lead team member and Parsons was the lead design subcontractor for the extension’s first phase from downtown Los Angeles to Pasadena, which was completed in 2003 “on time and under budget,” authority officials said.