The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority has approved an amendment and extension of its 2005 Development Agreement with the City of Burbank from 2012 to 2015 in order to allow the City and the Authority time to conduct broad public outreach aimed at reaching consensus about the future of Bob Hope Airport. The Burbank City Council will also consider the Development Agreement amendment and extension August 16.
If approved by the City Council, the Development Agreement extension will set the stage for the City and Airport to act jointly to engage residents and policy makers of Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and Los Angeles, as well as other Airport constituents such as the commercial airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration, to help shape the future of the Airport.
Authority Action Clears Way for Burbank City Council to Consider Development Agreement Extension to 2015, Enabling Broad Community Outreach on Airport’s Future; Postponed Transportation Center to Be Re-Bid Later This Year
“It is hoped the outreach will ultimately lead to a consensus that allows the City and the Authority to successfully plan for the future land use and development of the Airport, including whether or not a replacement passenger terminal should be considered,” said Executive Director Dan Feger.
In a second action, the Authority authorized $1,751,133 in amendments to various design and engineering firm contracts, including a $1,504,061 work order to the firm of Pierce Goodwin Alexander and Linville (PGAL) to provide all re-design services needed to prepare for a new
round of bidding this fall on the Airport’s proposed Regional Intermodal Transportation Center (RITC).
The RITC – conceived as a means to reduce Airport impacts on Airport-area traffic, encourage greater use of public transit and improve airfield safety – would be the largest capital project ever undertaken by the Authority and would include a consolidated rental car facility and bus transit center on Empire Avenue across from the Bob Hope Airport Train Station. It would also include an elevated moving walkway to the passenger terminal.
The current rental car pick-up and drop-off lot, presently located next to the airfield, would relocate into the new structure, allowing for increased runway safety area on the airfield.
The award of the work order confirms the Authority’s commitment to move forward on the project after initial bids in May came in more than $47 million beyond the available
construction budget for the project. Airport staff and consultants have since modified the scope of the project in order to assure that affordable prices would result from a new round of bids.
Cost-saving measures include: eliminating one level of the RITC structure, from four levels to three; moving the bus transit center from the third level to ground level; significantly reducing the quantity and type of steel in the structure; and lowering the elevation and length of the proposed elevated walkway to the terminal.
The project timeline now calls for bidding to commence in November 2011, leading to the start of a 23-month construction schedule in April 2012 and opening the RITC in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Project costs are estimated at $125.9 million, funded by rental car company proceeds, Passenger Facility Charges, Authority funds, and federal grants.
