Former Pasadena Firm Wins $60 Million Contract to Design Next Metro A Line Extension

The engineering firm that designed the Metro A Line’s path through Pasadena has won the contract to extend it further east.

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority voted unanimously on January 29 to award a six-year, $60 million design and engineering contract to Parsons Transportation Group for the 2.3-mile extension of the A Line from Pomona to Claremont. Parsons, which was headquartered in Pasadena from 1974 to 2019, has led design teams for every phase of the Foothill Gold Line over the past 25 years — including the original segment from Union Station to Pasadena that opened in 2003.

The contract covers advancing the project design from its current 30 percent completion to approved-for-construction drawings and providing design support during construction. Three teams submitted bids, and Parsons scored highest in the competitive process, according to the Construction Authority.

“While we evaluated three highly qualified teams, Parsons distinguished themselves as the clear leader for the Claremont Extension,” Ed Reece, vice mayor of Claremont and chair of the Construction Authority board, said in the agency’s announcement.

The extension is part of a larger $798 million project funded through state Senate Bill 125 allocations approved by LA Metro. About $200 million will cover design, real estate acquisitions and permits, with roughly $600 million earmarked for construction, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, citing Construction Authority CEO Habib Balian. The authority expects to award a separate construction manager contract by May and begin major construction in late 2027, with completion targeted for 2031.

The project was originally planned as a 3.2-mile extension reaching Montclair in San Bernardino County. But in September 2025, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority voted 15-11 to pull $37 million in funding for its portion of the project, citing rising costs and concerns about limited input. That forced the Construction Authority to focus only on the 2.3-mile segment within Los Angeles County.

The Claremont station will be the second on the A Line to connect with Metrolink, after Pomona. Once complete, the extension will add a 49th station to a line that currently stretches 57.6 miles from Long Beach through downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena to Pomona. Travel time between Claremont and Pasadena is estimated at about 38 minutes, according to the Railway-News trade publication.

Parsons Corporation was founded in 1944 and opened its Pasadena headquarters in 1974. The company relocated to Virginia in February 2019 and is now based in Chantilly. It remains publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PSN. The Parsons campus in Old Pasadena — a 22.7-acre site at Walnut and Union streets — has since been redeveloped into One West Walnut, a mixed-use project.

“Parsons has led design teams for each phase of this project for the past 25 years, and we are excited to once again be selected to continue that legacy,” Mark Fialkowski, president of infrastructure North America for Parsons, said in a company statement.

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority has completed three segments on time and on budget, according to the agency: Union Station to Pasadena in 2003, Pasadena to Azusa in 2015, and Glendora to Pomona in 2025. The Kiewit-Parsons joint venture served as the design-build contractor for the most recent segment.

Balian told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune the authority is watching costs closely on the Claremont extension. “We are keeping our fingers crossed we get the right team and it is something we can afford,” he said, referring to the construction manager contract still to be awarded.

Whether the line eventually reaches Montclair remains an open question. The Construction Authority has said it has not given up on the final segment, but no funding is in place.