The following excerpts appeared in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin on April 28, 2026. To read the full article (may require subscription), click here.

Without tariffs, A (Gold) Line extension to Claremont attracts multiple bidders for construction contract – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

A rendering of what the A Line station in Claremont would look like. (image courtesy of Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority)

By Steve Scauzillo

April 28, 2026

[excerpts]:

As the A Line, the longest electric light-rail in the country, tries to stretch even farther from Pomona to Claremont, the effort will get a boost from four contractor teams posting bids, officials reported earlier this week.

…

“It’s great for an owner to have three or four bids. We got four and that provides us with a lot of competition,” said Habib Balian, CEO of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority in an interview on Tuesday.

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Another key factor attracting more bids is the change to a new process that began with awarding a separate design/engineering contract to Parsons Transportation Group Inc. for $61 million on [Jan. 29]. The second contract, the major one for construction, should be awarded on May 27, he said.

Teams from the construction authority, the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, cities and L.A. Metro, which operates the line, are putting their heads together to choose one of the four bidders to recommend to the construction authority board. Balian said they look at qualifications, including whether the bidder has ever built light-rail and were projects on-time and on-budget.

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“Receiving these four competitive proposals from contractor teams of this caliber is a testament to the vision and unwavering commitment of this board and agency to extending the Metro A Line and all of its benefits to Claremont,” said Ed Reece, chair of the construction authority board and Claremont [Vice Mayor]. “I look forward to reviewing with my board colleagues the staff’s recommendation in May, and reaching another critical milestone that brings us one step closer to expanding a reliable, world-class transit system that fuels economic growth, reduces our carbon footprint and affordably brings more people to more places.”

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