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Award: Austin light rail facility
Value: $6.8 billion to $7.1 billion total project cost
Location: Austin, Texas
Client: Austin Transit Partnership
Austin, Texas, has picked the builders for a key milestone on a multibillion-dollar infrastructure project.
The Austin Transit Partnership has selected a JV led by Kiewit Building Group, a subsidiary of Omaha, Nebraska-based builder Kiewit, and Dallas-based contractor Austin Commercial, for the system’s forthcoming operations and maintenance facility, according to an April 15 announcement.
The ATP, a local government corporation managing the construction of Austin’s first-of-its-kind light rail system, selected the JV following an approximately yearlong selection process, which it touted as quicker than comparable infrastructure projects. That compressed timeframe could be a boon given the risk that often comes with large megaprojects.
Austin’s light rail project is a massive undertaking with a price tag to match: A January 2025 ATP report lists the total capital cost for the program between $6.8 billion and $7.1 billion. The estimate took into account the flow of revenue from Proposition A, a tax initiative dedicated to the system, and assumed federal grant support.
Once complete, the system will contain 15 stations along a nearly 10-mile alignment with all-electric trains, per the announcement, and is designed with future expansion in mind. The operations and maintenance facility will play a role as a storage, service and dispatch area for those light rail vehicles.
For the operations facility, the project team will also feature approximately 10 subcontractors for the design phase, half of which are located in the Austin area. Following the board’s approval, work began immediately on design, field investigation, utilities and permitting, per the announcement.
On the broader project, the ATP selected the LINC Austin JV — made of AECOM, Parsons, STV, Turner & Townsend, Ardmore Roderick and CAS Consulting — as the Phase 1 delivery partner in December 2024.
In February, the ATP awarded a contract worth $60 million to Austin Rail Constructors, a JV of builders Stacy Witbeck and Sundt Construction, for preconstruction work on the light rail project.
