Construction authority OKs contract for L.A. Metro Gold Line light-rail extension

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority's board has awarded a $2.6 million utility relocation design-bid-build contract to W.A. Rasic Construction Co. Inc. for a 12.3-mile light-rail project between Glendora and Montclair, California.

The contract is the first of two to be procured as part of the $1.4 billion Glendora-to-Montclair segment, which will extend the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) Gold Line route through communities in the San Gabriel Valley and into San Bernardino County.

The second contract will be a design-build agreement for the route's alignment. Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority officials expect to begin procurement for that contract in November and select a contractor in late 2018, they said in a press release.

The construction authority received bids from five qualified teams for the utility reconstruction contract.

The Glendora-to-Montclair segment is being funded by Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. The portion of the extension within L.A. County is receiving funds through Metro's Measure M half-cent sales tax that voters approved in November 2016.

Major construction on the project is slated to begin in 2020 and wrap up by 2026.

The Glendora-Montclair route is the final phase of the Gold Line extension. In March 2016, L.A. Metro opened the second phase to Azusa, California.