TO: TRANSPORTATION AND
ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
FROM: John Ristow
SUBJECT: Bart Silicon Valley Phase II
Status Report
DATE: March 17, 2025
Approved Date:
3/27/2025
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the status report on the Bay Area Rapid Transit Silicon Valley Phase II Project.
BACKGROUND
The Transportation and Environment (T&E) Committee work plan includes review of annual reports on regional transportation projects. Staff most recently provided a written update on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Silicon Valley Phase II Project to this Committee on February 3, 2025 as part of the Regional Transportation Activities Quarterly Report.
ANALYSIS
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)’s BART Silicon Valley Phase II Project (“BSV” or “Project”) is one of the largest and most transformational transit projects underway in California. It will extend BART regional rail service six miles from the Berryessa / North San José Station into downtown San José and terminate in the City of Santa Clara. It will include three below-ground stations in San José (28th Street / Little Portugal, Downtown, and Diridon Station) and one at-grade station in the City of Santa Clara adjacent to the Santa Clara Caltrain Station. Most of the alignment in San José will be underground in a single-bore tunnel containing side-by-side tracks.
Construction
The Project is divided into four contract packages (CPs):
T&E AGENDA: 4/7/25
ITEM: (d) 2
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
March 17, 2025
Subject: Bart Silicon Valley Phase II Status Report
Table 1: BSV Contract Packages
Contract Package Delivery
Method
Current Status
CP1 Systems Design-BidBuild60% design completed by
General Engineering
Consultant, subject to cost
savings changes
CP2 Tunnel & Trackwork Progressive
Design-Build
Construction on West Portal
site began in Summer 2024
CP3 Newhall Yard & Santa Clara
Station
Design-BidBuild60% design completed by
General Engineering
Consultant, subject to cost
savings changes
CP4 Stations & Support Facilities Design-BidBuild
CP2 Tunnel & Trackwork is the largest contract and first in the sequence to start construction. It is divided into two stages. Stage 1 predominantly consists of design services and early construction activities, also known as early works packages. This phase of work also includes preparing for the tunneling launch structure at the West Portal. Stage 2 predominantly consists of construction work and is expected to start in 2027 after VTA and the CP2 contractor agree on a lump sum price for CP2 Stage 2.
VTA awarded the CP2 Stage 1 contract to Kiewit Shea Traylor Joint Venture (KST) in May 2022. As part of Stage 1, KST purchased the 54-foot diameter tunnel boring machine in late 2023, which will excavate and line the tunnel for approximately five miles underground. In April 2024, KST officially started early construction activities at the West Portal, including grading and site preparation. On June 14, 2024, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site with elected leaders and Project advocates. In February 2025, KST started construction of the tunnel boring machine launch structure at the West Portal, beginning with sheet piling.
In addition to the early works being conducted at the West Portal, the Project is advancing activities critical to maintaining the current schedule. These include investigation of bridge pilings and other buildings along the alignment, coordination with adjacent property owners to initiate monitoring for baseline conditions, and soils testing as required by local, state, and federal legislation. The Project continues to acquire properties necessary for construction and is advancing demolition of certain properties that have fallen into disrepair or pose potential safety or security concerns, including the Goodlife building located at the northwest corner of Santa Clara and 13th Streets.
VTA is continuing to study the Project schedule to determine the timing of construction activities that will dictate when fencing at Diridon would need to be installed around the three parking lots on the south side of Santa Clara Street between the Caltrain tracks
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
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Subject: Bart Silicon Valley Phase II Status Report
and Barack Obama Boulevard. At this time, VTA has communicated that no fencing is anticipated in 2025, and updates will be provided by VTA later this year.
Following close coordination with the City of San José, VTA will postpone demolition of key downtown properties along Santa Clara Street until fall 2026 to address concerns with the appearance of vacant lots on Santa Clara Street, especially during major events in 2026 including the Super Bowl and World Cup. For these sites, VTA is coordinating closely with the City of San José and the San José Downtown Association to develop strategies for beautification of vacant properties. VTA continues to work with the City of San José and downtown stakeholders on a more substantial screening strategy for construction activities that are to follow.
At the 28th Street / Little Portugal site, VTA is continuing its acquisition of sites and coordinating with existing tenants for their relocation. As properties are vacated, VTA will fence the block bounded by 28th Street, 30th Street, Five Wounds Lane, and St.
James Street and the block bounded by 28th Street, the old railroad property line, Santa Clara Street, and Julian Street.
In the Diridon and Downtown San José (DTSJ) areas, major construction will have associated impacts to the street network, including some long-term lane closures. Per San José Municipal Code (Chapter 13.36), VTA is required to provide a plan to mitigate construction impacts. To address this, VTA will develop a Construction Transportation Management Plan (CTMP) for each of the geographic areas and for different phases of construction. Each CTMP includes high-level information such as schedule and location of construction activities, phasing and durations of construction activities, truck haul routes, working hours and truck hauling hours, traffic operational analysis identifying impacts of construction activities, and any location-specific requirements. VTA will work with the City and key stakeholders over several months to develop and vet each CTMP.
Throughout the construction, the contractor will still need to submit for City staff approval detailed Traffic Control Plans which are in conformance with the approved CTMP.
VTA provided a CTMP for the West Portal / Newhall Yard area for CP2 early works construction, “CTMP1,” which City Council approved on May 23, 2023 and amended on August 15, 2023. Once City Council approves a CTMP, the Director of Public Works is authorized to negotiate and execute minor amendments to the CTMP through an annual process. It is anticipated that over the next two years, the following CTMPs will be presented to City Council for approval:
• CP2 CTMPs for major construction at West Portal / Newhall Yard; • CP2 CTMPs for early works and major construction at the San José stations; and • CP2 CTMP for early works and major construction at the East Portal and 28th Street / Little Portugal station.
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
March 17, 2025
Subject: Bart Silicon Valley Phase II Status Report
Project Cost and Funding
The Project is currently estimated at $12.7 billion. VTA applied for funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and was accepted into the FTA’s New Starts Engineering program in August 2024 with a 40% commitment ($5.1 billion). That is the largest commitment outside of New York City in FTA history, but is also $1.2 billion less than VTA strived for. Subsequently, VTA allocated $502 million from available Measure A funding to the Project, reducing the funding gap to $700 million. VTA is applying for two state grants that would amount to up to $100 million if awarded. VTA’s engineering team is analyzing other ideas to bring Project costs down.
In late 2024, the VTA Board of Directors gave direction to Project staff to accept “Level 1” cost saving ideas shown in Table 2 below. VTA has been doing further analysis on “Level 2” cost saving ideas to determine their feasibility and how much money they will save. VTA plans to return to the Board of Directors with updates.
Table 2: Cost Saving Candidates
Level Cost Savings
(as of 2/3/2025)
1 Criteria / Requirements Assessment with BART $187M
1 Convert 28th Street / Little Portugal Parking Structure to Surface Parking
$77M
1 Refine Station Design (28th Street / Little Portugal, DTSJ, and Diridon)
$68M
1 Owner Supplied Materials $20M
2 Concurrent Tunneling from the East TBD
2 Newhall/Yard Santa Clara Station >$40M
2 Tunnel Interior Reconfiguration TBD
2 Various Alternative Structural Concepts <$5M
2 Muck Off-Haul <$10M to TBD
To keep the Project on schedule, VTA has been working with KST since 2022 to identify early design and construction work, also known as early works packages, whose completion is critical to completing the Project on schedule. The VTA Board of Directors has authorized several early works packages and amended their agreement with KST so they can proceed. Some of the early works packages cost more than initially estimated, most notably Early Works Package 3C for work at the West Portal (site preparation and construction of the tunnel boring machine launch structure). While it was initially estimated and contracted with KST at $140 million, continued investigation and design has resulted in an updated cost estimate of $520 million. To allow for exploration of cost reductions, VTA has administered some work with KST through limited notice-to-proceeds. The contract between VTA and KST also provides incentives
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Subject: Bart Silicon Valley Phase II Status Report
and penalties for both parties to stay on schedule and identify cost savings to the Project.
In late 2024 VTA established the “BSVII Contracting Task Force” which includes VTA’s General Counsel’s Office, BSV Project staff, VTA’s Procurement department, and Independent Tunneling Subject Matter Expert to the Oversight Committee, Gall Zeidler.
The task force meets weekly and is focused primarily on evaluating various options to deliver remaining scope of work in CP2. One option that is under consideration is for VTA to bid out the remainder of CP2 to seek a more competitive price than what KST has provided. Project staff have been conducting outreach with other major tunneling contractors over the last several months.
Station Designs
The future BSV stations will be monumental additions to the transit network and the overall transportation network in San José, and the street-level entrance buildings have the potential to be iconic landmarks in our streetscape. The station designs have been continuously evolving since the 2018 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement / Subsequent Environmental Impact Report. Over the years, VTA, the City, and other stakeholders have collaborated to address station-related concerns around passenger-friendly access, transit-oriented development, and urban integration.
The City and other stakeholders continue to express desire to maximize opportunities for transit-oriented development around the three new San José BART stations.
Development above the stations themselves is deemed infeasible due to the high level of seismic design required for BART facilities, which extends to structures above the stations. However, VTA and the City have worked closely to facilitate and maximize the opportunity for transit-oriented development around station buildings through collaboration on the 28th Street / Little Portugal Design Development Framework – which is a master plan that would guide VTA’s future development on the VTA-owned property surrounding the station. VTA also has developed a Design Development Framework for the VTA-owned property surrounding the DTSJ site, which the VTA Board approved in 2021. At Diridon, VTA has refined station designs to reserve space between the station facility and Post Street to the south for a future development on the station block. This is in addition to VTA’s participation in the process that led to the City’s entitlement of the Downtown West development, which encompasses several acres around the Diridon Station site.
One topic that is under active discussion between the City and VTA is that of including a second street-level entrance for the DTSJ station located on the south side of Santa Clara Street. The Project design at the DTSJ station currently includes a knock-out panel in the tunnel wall and mezzanine extension at the east end of the platform to facilitate a future connection to a street-level entrance on the south side of Santa Clara
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Subject: Bart Silicon Valley Phase II Status Report
Street and Second Street. This future second entrance, which would be pursued by the City and VTA and funded separately from the BSV Project, would better serve pedestrian demand from major generators like San José State University and City Hall.
While this has been an ongoing topic for years, City and VTA staff are currently reengaged on this topic through the “Downtown San José Station South Entrance Task Force” which also includes representatives from San José State University and the San José Downtown Association.
Another topic that City staff continue to monitor is that of the station aesthetics and architectural design. VTA has regularly engaged the City and community on the station architecture and urban integration throughout many iterations over the years. This engagement has been through bi-weekly and ad-hoc staff meetings between the City and VTA, and Community Working Group / Design Review Committee meetings which include community representatives and select City representatives focused on the station aesthetic. As part of its cost-saving candidates, VTA identified potential for cost savings by using more affordable materials at the stations. More detailed information has not been provided yet, and City staff will continue to engage with VTA to ensure the stations will be a source of pride for San José.
Federal Transit Administration and Full Funding Grant Agreement Timeline VTA regularly checks in with FTA, including on risk reviews and the timeline to the Full Funding Grant Agreement. In December, VTA held a workshop with FTA and their Project Management Oversight Consultant to review the major cost saving options that VTA was considering and to brainstorm other potential ideas. Before the change in presidential administration, VTA was working towards executing a Full Funding Grant Agreement with the FTA in December 2025 / January 2026. However, VTA is seriously considering advice from VTA’s federal lobbyists about the timing of applying for the Full Funding Grant Agreement in the FTA’s New Starts program under the new administration, which may push out the anticipated Full Funding Grant Agreement date.
Thriving Business Program
VTA created the Thriving Business Program to support small businesses during BSV construction. In 2023, VTA’s Board of Directors approved $15 million to be programmed towards the program over five years. Through the program, VTA can assist eligible businesses in three ways: marketing, local resources, and direct financial assistance.
Marketing assistance will be in the form of promotional materials developed by VTA, both physical and digital (e.g., banners, window clingers, website, and social media coverage, etc). Local resources refers to VTA partnering with community-based organizations to provide education to small businesses, such as on grant opportunities, marketing strategies, etc. VTA will provide direct financial assistance to a qualifying business, up to $10,000 per year. To qualify for the Thriving Business Program, a business must be a small business (have 35 or fewer full-time employees), have an
TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
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Subject: Bart Silicon Valley Phase II Status Report
active business license in the City, operate a physical storefront, and be in a qualifying category (i.e., liquor stores, adult stores, tobacco/smoke shops, ammunition/gun stores, etc. are not eligible). To qualify for direct financial assistance, the business must also be located within 500 feet of construction staging areas and experience constructionrelated disruption for at least two weeks.
COORDINATION
This report has been coordinated with the Department of Public Works, Office of the City Attorney, Office of Economic Development, Budget Office, and the VTA BSV team. /s/
JOHN RISTOW
Director, Department of Transportation
For questions, please contact Jessica Zenk, Deputy Director, Department of Transportation, at [email protected] or (408) 535-3543.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 - Memorandum for May 23, 2023 Council Meeting, Agenda Item: 5.1, “BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension Project Contract Package 2 Specific Construction Transportation Management Plan for West Portal Early Works”
Attachment 2 - City Council Action Request for August 15, 2023 Council Meeting, Agenda Item: 2.17, “Amendment to the Contract Package 2 Specific Construction Transportation Management Plan for West Portal Early Works”