VTAs Bart Extension Construction underway in the midst of delays, financing of gaps

San Jose, California (KGO) – Crews work almost 24/7 on the early phases of the Bart extension of VTA in Santa Clara County.

The project will expand public transport of the existing station in Noord -San Jose, through the center and to the city of Santa Clara.

“The project is the largest infrastructure project that has ever been undertaken in Santa Clara County,” said Tom Maguire, chief of VTA’s Chief Megaprojects. “It will, when ready, will include six miles of new rail, a five-mile tunnel, single-bore and four new stations.”

Work on phase two is already underway.

We have received a first hand from the construction in the West portal where the Santa Clara station will be -just behind PayPal Park.

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Crews prepare the site and lay the foundation for the starting point of the tunnel and there is a lot of loud work underway.

Sound walls around the area are actually an important part of this project.

The construction takes place from 6 to 4 hours from Monday to Saturday and these walls make it so there are limited disturbances at night for the houses just on the other side.

The West portal is also where the excavation for the tunnel starts.

Due to the type of soil in the soil here, crews first build and install the walls of the tunnel.

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“The walls go top-down,” said VTA’s director of the Sarah Wilson construction. “The walls are fully installed before we dig everything. We are going to dig 82 feet and it will be a nice big opening for our mega machine to launch them and build a tunnel.”

The tunnel is bored by a new contractor after bids have come into the road about the budget.

The federal government has committed $ 5.1 billion to pay for almost 40% of the project. But there is still a financing gap from somewhere around $ 700 million to $ 1 billion.

VTA must therefore find creative and cost -effective ways to do the job.

“Our challenge is now to find a way to build the tunnel faster and to build the other aspects of the project – the four stations, the garden and all construction above the ground – in a way that compresses the schedule,” Magire said.

VTA and Bart are still looking at a 2037 voltooiation of the project to initiate trains for the community in the South Bay and beyond.