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Without tariffs, A (Gold) Line extension to Claremont attracts multiple bidders for construction contract

April 28, 2026

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.

Four is definitely better than one, which was the number of bids received last year. The lone bid was submitted by Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. that also included plans to reach Montclair, which have since been put on hold. That bid came in $350 million over the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority’s most conservative estimate for design and construction work. Not surprisingly, it was rejected.

This time, under a new, two-step contracting method, four bidders are competing for the primary construction contract — the contractor who will build the 2.3-mile extension of the A Line (previously called the Gold Line) to Claremont. The short addition would add to the lengthy A Line that runs from Long Beach, through South L.A., Downtown L.A., Highland Park, Pasadena and across the foothill cities to the eastern edge of Los Angeles County.

Will four companies competing against each other make their cost estimates more competitive?

“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, April 28.

“It is very good news. We are in real solid shape with this number of bidders and this quality of bidders,” he added.

The four entities competing for the construction contract are:

• Balfour Beatty | Griffith Company, a joint venture

• FlatironDragados Constructors, Inc.

• MOR Rail Constructors JV, a joint venture of Myers and Sons Construction, Obayashi and RailWorks

• SSH Joint Venture, made up of Skanska USA, Stacy Witbeck, and Herzog Contracting

The higher bid last year was related to inflation, rising labor costs, market uncertainty and President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Now, with the high tariffs on steel and aluminum and other parts for trains and tracks ruled illegal, they are no longer in play.

“Yes, it is a better environment,” Balian said. “It may be better than a year ago.” But he said inflation can still affect the ultimate construction cost.

“With this competition you see folks more anxious to get into this contract. Maybe this environment is a little bit better. We got relief from tariffs. Although gas prices rising don’t help,” Balian added.

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 Feb. 4. 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 (SCRRA), cities and LA 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.

Ultimately, the construction company will work with Parsons and submit plans to build the project at a certain cost in about a year or more, he said.

The Authority was awarded $798 million from L.A. Metro in October 2024 to extend the A Line to Claremont. The money came from state Senate Bill 1 dollars that are funneled from taxes on gasoline, diesel fuel and a fee added to vehicle registrations. About $200 million will be spent on the design, real estate acquisitions, administration, right-of-ways and permits with railroad firms whose tracks must be moved to make way for the light-rail tracks.

This leaves about $600 million for actual construction, according to the Construction Authority. Will the Authority have enough money to construct the line to Claremont? Early estimates from the group concluded the money acquired from LA Metro would be enough to build the project.

Parsons began construction work in March undergrounding utilities and is working with Charter Spectrum to underground overhead communication lines in Pomona.

Charter-Spectrum crews are undergrounding communication lines at the Towne Avenue crossing in Pomona. (image courtesy of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority).

Major construction on the Pomona to Claremont extension is expected to take four years, starting in 2027 or 2028 and completing in late 2031 or early 2032, according to the Construction Authority.

Though relatively short, the extension into Claremont is complicated.

It will involve building bridges over Garey Avenue, Towne Avenue and Indian Hill Boulevard in Claremont. Also, some of the biggest costs come from relocating about a mile of the Metrolink track and a half-mile of freight track, said Chris Burner, Construction Authority’s chief project officer.

The A Line station at Claremont will be the second one on the light-rail line that also has a Metrolink Station, the other is Pomona. This may increase the transfer of Metrolink riders coming from the Inland Empire to the light-rail run by LA Metro at these A Line stations. Also, Claremont officials say it could bring riders from the Inland Empire and other parts of the San Gabriel Valley to Claremont’s collection of eateries and shops.

A broad look showing the long, A Line light-rail, including the future station in Claremont, on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County. (image courtesy of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority).

The A Line currently is 57.6 miles long with 48 stations, running from Long Beach to Pomona, through downtown Los Angeles, Highland Park and Pasadena, and with stations in the foothill cities such as Azusa, Duarte, Glendora, San Dimas and La Verne. Adding the next station at Claremont would bring the train line to nearly 60 miles long, with 49 stations. The extension from Azusa to Pomona opened in September 2025.

“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 City Councilmember. “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.”

Originally, this line was approved to reach into San Bernardino County, with its eastern terminus at the Montclair Transit Center. But in September, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors voted 15-11 to defund the agency’s portion of the planned extension of the A Line from Pomona to Montclair, citing concerns about increasing costs and limited input into decisions related to the project.

Does a project to Claremont make the 1-mile jaunt to Montclair more possible?

“The project is pointed in their direction,” Balian said. “We have the jurisdiction to build it. We need their (San Bernardino County Transportation Authority) cooperation, and their funding,” he added.

Without tariffs, A (Gold) Line extension to Claremont attracts multiple bidders for construction contract Orange County Register

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Without tariffs, A (Gold) Line extension to Claremont attracts multiple bidders for construction contract

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