DALLAS — The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has selected a short list of four teams that will be asked to bid on the next phase of Washington Metrorail's $5.7 billion Silver Line extension project.
The winning bidder will design and build a rail yard and maintenance facility at Dulles International Airport. The project is expected to cost between $260 million and $280 million.
The contract is scheduled to be awarded in June to the team "submitting the lowest priced proposal that meets technical qualifications," said Pat Nowakowski, executive director for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.
The four teams on the short list include: Capital Rail Constructors, with partners Clark Construction Group LLC and Kiewit Infrastructure South Co.; Hensel Phelps Construction Co.; Metrorail Constructors Group JV, with partners Turner Construction Co., Southland Industries, and Freestate Electrical Construction Co.; and Skanska USA Southeast Co.
Completion of the rail yard and maintenance yard is expected in 2018.
The $3 billion, 11.7 mile Phase 1 of the Silver Line extension was completed in 2013 and is expected to be operational early this year.
The airports authority awarded a $1.18 billion construction contract to Capital Rail Constructors in 2013 to build 11.4 miles of track and six stations on the second phase of the Silver Line extension.
The bids for the rail work came in lower than $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion that had been expected, Nowakowski said.
The 23-mile Silver Line segment eventually will extend the Metrorail system from the current terminus of the Orange Line in Vienna, Va., to Washington Dulles International Airport and on to eastern Loudon County, Va.
When the extension is completed, the Silver Line will be turned over to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and be operated as part of WMATA's Metrorail system.
The Silver Line project is being funded with $975 million of federal transportation grants, $500 million from Virginia, $915 million from Fairfax County, $278 million from Loudoun County, and $3 billion from the airports authority.
The airports authority board has authorized up to $1.3 billion of bonds for the project, supported by revenues from the Dulles Toll Road.
The airports authority took over control of the airport toll road in 2008 under a 50-year agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation. In exchange the authority agreed to finance and build the Silver Line project.
Fairfax County used almost $30 million of proceeds from a $317 million general obligation bond issued in January to pay its annual allocation to transit projects in the area, including the Silver Line project.
The county is considering issuing revenue bonds to provide the $235 million it expects to spend on two parking garages and a rail station promised as part of its share of the project.
