San Francisco’s massive $8.25 billion Downtown Rail Extension project picked AECOM’s Portal Connectors team to provide program and construction management services. The Dallas-based firm announced its award for the project, also known as the Portal, in an Aug. 21 news release. The value of the contract was not disclosed.
The 2.2-mile, two-station megaproject will extend Caltrain service from its current terminal at Fourth and King streets to the Salesforce Transit Center, and will also accommodate future California High-Speed Rail service, per the project website. Once complete, the extension will serve as a key regional rail connection with a combined average daily ridership of 90,000 people, connecting with 11 Bay Area and Southern California transit systems.
The Portal is the second phase of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority’s $12 billion transportation and housing Transbay Program; the first phase replaced the former Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco with the multimodal Salesforce Transit Center.
In May, the project received a $3.4 billion pledge from the federal government to realize the city’s vision to build the Salesforce Transit Center into the “Grand Central Station of the West,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The rail extension is expected to be built mostly below grade using cut-and-cover and mined tunneling methods underneath Townsend and Second Streets. The project will fit out the Center’s basement levels into a new train station and build a new underground station at Fourth and Townsend Streets.
Major project elements include structures for emergency exit and ventilation along the tunnel alignment, mainline trackwork through the tunnel and stations as well as at-grade trackwork tying into Caltrain’s existing trackwork, rail systems and site work within Caltrain’s rail yards.
Portal Connectors will be responsible for obtaining Federal Transit Administration funding, finalizing the procurement plan in 2024, activating collaborative delivery models, designing and building the tunnel stations and integrating The Portal with existing rail systems and operations, according to the release.
Construction is set to begin in 2025, according to the project website, with start of service expected in 2032. It has received environmental clearance and is at 30% design.
