CHSRA Awards Central Valley Stations Design Contract
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
Preliminary conceptual rendering of Fresno Station. (CHRSA)
The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s (CHRSA) Board of Directors on Oct. 20 announced that it has awarded an approximately $35 million contract to Foster + Partners and Arup (F+P Arup) for design and support services for the Merced, Fresno, Kings/Tulare and Bakersfield stations that will serve passengers on the California high-speed rail project’s initial 171-mile segment.
According to CHRSA, the F+P Arup contract is for the first of two separately funded phases: the first to advance the design work at the four station sites, including identifying right-of-way (ROW) and utility relocation requirements necessary for construction; and the second to progress to final design and construction ready documents, construction support and commissioning. The duration for the first phase of work is estimated to be 30 months.
“The first four Central Valley high-speed rail stations are one step closer to reality,” said Authority Chairman Tom Richards. “High-speed rail stations will transform cities, spur economic development and create community hubs within the heart of our state.”
The California high-speed rail project is currently under construction along 119 miles in the Central Valley at more than 30 active job sites. The 500-mile Phase 1 system is slated to extend from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim; 422 miles have already been environmentally cleared. In the past several months, CHRSA says it has also begun advancing design work on the alignment to extend work north into Merced and south into Bakersfield.
To date, CHRSA says nearly 9,000 construction jobs have been created since the start of construction.
