Design-build contractor selected for Central Mesa light-rail extension

Last week, Valley Metro’s board selected Valley Transit Constructors (VTC), a Kiewit Corp./Mass. Electric Construction Co. joint venture, to continue designing and building the 3.1-mile Central Mesa light-rail extension.

Parsons Transportation Group, also part of the team, will serve as lead designer, Valley Metro officials said in a prepared statement.

The agency transitioned to a “design-build delivery method to expedite the project, encourage collaboration and take advantage of favorable market conditions,” said Valley Metro Chief Executive Officer Steve Banta.

The agency’s action follows a nine-month procurement process. VTC will be issued a limited notice to proceed for design and utility relocations in early April, then will develop a more detailed schedule that will be reviewed at a community meeting in late April, Valley Metro officials said. Utility relocation could break ground in late May. The current schedule calls for project completion in 2016.

The 3.1-mile, $200 million Central Mesa light-rail extension will travel through downtown Mesa, Ariz., to Mesa Drive. It includes four stations and an end-of-line park-and-ride. More than three-fourths of the project’s funding has been programmed with Proposition 400 and federal air quality and grant dollars.  Valley Metro officials expect to receive a full funding commitment from the Federal Transit Administration in summer.