The Citrus College owl and Bob Davis knew this day was coming.

UPDATE: CHANGE IN GROUNDBREAKING DATE – to better accommodate the schedules of many San Gabriel Valley residents, the Authority has moved the groundbreaking to June 26, 2010 (previously on June 19). So save this date. Remember it. Leave post-it notes everywhere, as far as the eye can see. Write it on both palms on your hands. If you’re that forgetful, maybe key it onto the side of your car.

It’s going to be that big.

In what has been the biggest day for the San Gabriel Valley since the Long Range Transportation Plan was approved last October, the Metro Board of Directors unanimously voted yesterday to approve the funding and master cooperative agreements that would officially allow the Authority to move forward with the groundbreaking and construction of the Gold Line Foothill Extension this June. The effort to officially become the first Measure R light rail project to break ground may have seemed like an eternity for some folks, but the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority had been working with Metro staff through countless meetings in the past three months to hammer out these agreements. Great job to both sides.

The funding agreement sets in stone (or paper) the transfer of nearly $700 million from Metro (via Measure R tax revenue) to the Authority over a 10 year period towards the construction of Phase 2A (Pasadena to Azusa), and provides for an additional $110 million to be used in later years for Phase 2B (Azusa to Montclair). The master cooperative agreement basically sets the oversight rules between Metro and the Authority – since it is Metro that will be running the line after the Authority completes construction.

While there was a little bit of a tug of war between the two bodies to find the right level of review and approval over every aspect of the design and construction of the Extension, both sides were able to come to an agreement in the end that satisfied the needs of both agencies. Another significant aspect of this agreement is that, in addition to being applied to the Foothill Extension, it will serve as a framework for similar agreements in future transit projects throughout Los Angeles County.

Enough of this dry jibberish. What does this really mean?

The timely approval of these two agreements means that the Authority’s construction schedule… will be on schedule. There are currently six teams vying to win the design-build contract to begin construction of the Iconic Freeway Structure this summer, and four more teams turned in Statements of Qualifications earlier this week, looking to be pre-qualified to design, build and finance the Phase 2A Alignment work.

This also means that:

• thousands of construction workers (one of the worse hit job sectors) will be put back to work
• almost $1 billion in economic benefits will come to the region as a result of the construction
• thousands of non-construction jobs will be created as a result of the Extension
• in 2014, the cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, and Azusa will be connected via light-rail to Metro’s rapidly-expanding transit network
• more San Gabriel Valley residents will be able to skip the 210 gridlock to and from work
• more San Gabriel Valley residents will have some extra change in their pockets
• and more! (if you can think of something, you’re probably right)

See you on June 19 June 26!

The monthly Metro Board meeting will take place tomorrow at 9:30 AM at the Board Room of the Metro building, and up for votes will be the funding agreement and master cooperative agreement between the Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority and Metro. Approval of these agreements will allow the Authority to move forward with selecting a contractor to break ground and begin construction this summer on the Extension. Excited?

We’ll be covering the meeting on Twitter @iwillride tomorrow, so be sure to follow.

More details below from Foothill Extension CEO Habib Balian’s most recent email:

Negotiations between the Construction Authority and Metro have successfully completed and produced recommended Funding and Master Cooperative Agreement term sheets for consideration by the Metro board tomorrow.  The final draft eliminates redundancies and inefficiencies proposed in previous versions; while at the same time providing Metro with assurances that the design and quality of construction meets their design criteria. The final draft also provides significant coordination and information sharing between agencies. I have attached a one-page summary for your review.

These negotiations concluded amicably due to the hard work of many, including Metro Board members from throughout the region and their staff, Metro staff and counsel, and Ara Najarian, whose leadership and involvement was integral to this success.

I am optimistic that the term sheets will be approved in this final form at tomorrow’s Metro Board meeting. If you are available to attend, the meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. at Metro Headquarters (One Gateway Plaza, 3^rd Floor Board Room).

The timing of this approval is critical. Just yesterday, the Authority received Statements of Qualifications from four highly qualified design-build teams interested in participating in a public-private partnership with the Authority to finance and build the Phase 2A Alignment. The teams include (in alpha order): Atkinson Contractors/Granite Construction Co./Clark Construction Group; Kiewit Pacific Co./Parsons Transportation Group; Shimmick Construction Co./URS Corp.; and Skanska USA/Balfour Beatty USA. And early next month, the Authority will be receiving proposals for design and construction of the Iconic Freeway Structure from the previously-qualified teams.

When approved tomorrow, the Authority will be on schedule for a June 19 ground breaking.

The Journey Continues,

Habib F. Balian