VTA to award first two major contracts for $6.8 billion BART extension

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is expected to issue its first two major contracts next summer for the construction of BART’s extension into downtown San Jose and Santa Clara, BART officials said on Oct. 14.

The $6.8 billion project will be the largest infrastructure initiative in the county’s history, VTA says.

VTA’s BART Phase II contracting

Carl Holmes, BART’s assistant general manager for planning, development and construction, told the agency’s board of directors that BART expects to award contracts next summer for rail systems and for tunnelling and track work.

The following summer, the VTA is expected to award contracts for the construction of underground transit stations in downtown San Jose and an above-ground station and rail yard in Santa Clara, CBS-5 (KPIX) reported.

The six-mile extension will largely be completed by 2028, with an anticipated opening in 2030, BART officials say. It includes four new stations at 28th Street in downtown San Jose near the intersection of Santa Clara and Market streets, the San Jose Diridon rail depot and a ground-level station just north of Avaya Stadium in Santa Clara, and more than four miles of rail tunnel along Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose, the broadcaster reported.