Parsons Transportation Group, the engineering firm that once anchored Old Pasadena, has landed a six-year, $60 million contract to finish design work on the Metro A Line extension from Pomona to Claremont. The win pushes a 2.3-mile segment forward that the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority says will bring light rail service deeper into the foothills and add another A Line station, even as local officials juggle tight timelines and even tighter budgets.
At its Jan. 29 board meeting, the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority voted unanimously to rank Parsons as the top proposer and award the firm the design and engineering services contract. The job is to take the extension from roughly 30 percent design to approved-for-construction drawings and then support the build. According to a Jan. 29 press release from the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, Parsons scored 94 out of 100 in the evaluation, and the board also signed off on releasing the request for proposals for the construction manager. The authority says its construction manager at risk procurement could lead to major construction starting in late 2027 or early 2028, with the build expected to take about four years.
Parsons, which says it has led design teams on every phase of the Foothill Gold Line for the past 25 years, is treating the selection as the latest chapter in a long-running relationship with the corridor. In a company release, Parsons president Mark Fialkowski called the award “rewarding for everyone who has been involved at Parsons” and said the extension will improve access across eastern Los Angeles County, according to a statement from Parsons. The firm also pointed to its history in the corridor, stretching back to its days in Pasadena and its previous design roles on earlier phases of the project.
Money, Scope and the Montclair Question
The 2.3-mile Claremont segment sits inside a larger, $798 million funding amendment that Metro approved to cover the Los Angeles County portion of the final Pomona-to-Montclair build. The Oct. 31, 2024 funding decision, which relies heavily on state Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program dollars, was highlighted in coverage from Metro/PR Newswire. Meanwhile, San Bernardino County officials pulled local dollars that had been earmarked for the Montclair stretch, forcing the Construction Authority to deliver the work in two pieces and focus first on the Los Angeles County segment, according to the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority.
Why Pasadena Still Cares
The choice of Parsons comes with a bit of local nostalgia. The company once operated a 22.7-acre headquarters campus in Old Pasadena and helped design earlier phases of the Gold Line, so the new award carries symbolic weight even though Parsons now lists its headquarters in Virginia. As Pasadena Now reported, the former Parsons campus at Walnut and Union has since been redeveloped into the One West Walnut project. That sense of continuity, a onetime Pasadena firm returning to a familiar rail corridor after relocating out of town, is part of why local leaders are paying attention.
Next Steps and Community Watch
The Construction Authority says it expects to award a separate construction manager contract by May and has already released an RFP, an effort meant to keep costs and constructability under constant review as design progresses, according to the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority. Local officials and transit advocates have welcomed the momentum, while warning that inflation, right-of-way expenses and San Bernardino County’s earlier funding pull leave the ultimate Montclair leg in limbo. Riders and neighbors can expect community outreach and property work to ramp up as design reaches approved-for-construction status, and the Construction Authority estimates that major construction could begin in late 2027 or early 2028 if the money holds together.
For Pasadena and the foothill cities, the design award is a tangible sign that the A Line’s eastward march is still alive, even with a funding gap where the Montclair segment was supposed to be. The contract buys time for cities to fine-tune station concepts and brace for construction impacts, while the Construction Authority and partner agencies keep searching for ways to plug the shortfall. Officials say they plan to return to the public with updated schedules and outreach as design milestones fall into place.
