Construction bids under budget for Bob Hope Airport transit center

March 23, 2012 12 AM PT

Construction bids for a new transit center and parking structure at Bob Hope Airport came in under budget this week, a reversal in fortune for a project that was put on a diet last year after the first round of building proposals came in at far more than anticipated.

In June, the so-called intermodal transit center — which will include facilities for rental cars and rail and bus lines to better connect passengers to the terminal — was scaled down after bids for the project came in $47 million to $75 million above the originally projected cost of $112 million.

The latest round of low bids came in more than $11 million below the new budget of $93 million, officials announced Friday. McCarthy Building Companies submitted a $72.7-million bid to build the transit center, while Bomel Construction Co. bid $8.5 million to build the parking structure, according to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.

The 520,000-square-foot center will accommodate the nine car rental companies currently serving Bob Hope Airport and better connect passengers to regional transit lines, but it will also feature solar panels and a 19-foot-high covered walkway connecting to the terminal.

In a statement, Dan Feger, executive director of airport authority, said the transit center “actually embodies the phrase ‘planes, trains and automobiles’” that will create “a green tri-city gateway upon which to build for tomorrow.”

The authority is expected to settle on the contracts in time to start the two-year construction period this summer.

-- Jason Wells, Times Community News

Twitter: @JasonBretWells