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The Port Authority of Allegheny County recently awarded the first of 16 contracts for the $435 million North Shore Connector project. North Shore Constructors, a joint venture between Trumball Corp. and Obayashi Corp., won a $156.5 million contract to build twin tunnels under the Allegheny River linking downtown Pittsburgh and the city’s North Shore.

The contractor also will build 1,200 feet of right-of-way on the North Shore and the shell for the North Side Station, which will be located under the Sports and Exhibition Authority’s parking garage. Construction is expected to begin in early fall.

Scheduled to be complete in 2011, the project will extend the authority’s 25-mile light-rail system 1.2 miles under the river to the North Shore. The project also calls for building new Gateway Center and Allegheny stations.

The Federal Transit Administration is expected to sign a Full Funding Grant Agreement for the project.