Dive Brief:
- The Phoenix City Council is set to award Colorado-based Hensel Phelps Construction a $280 million contract to extend the monorail at Sky Harbor International Airport, according to the Phoenix Business Journal.
- Hensel Phelps will extend the Sky Train — which connects to the Valley Metro Rail system — to the airport rental car center. Phoenix officials will give their final approval to the contract at an upcoming meeting.
- The city is also seeking a construction consultant to oversee infrastructure and mechanical upgrade and renovation projects at the airport's Terminal 4, the busiest terminal at the airport. Bids for that project are due May 19.
Dive Insight:
Getting travelers to and around airports using monorail or "people mover" systems has become increasingly important as facilities expand their footprints while at the same time try to reduce vehicular traffic in and out of terminal areas.
Crews are currently building a new people mover system at Tampa International Airport as part of a $971 million first-phase renovation, which also includes restaurants, retail and a 2.6-million-square-foot rental car complex. Future work will include a $798 million, 16-gate terminal that will handle both domestic and international flights. This is all part of a $2.3 billion, three-phase expansion that will last well into the next decade.
Los Angeles World Airports is also planning a $3 billion people mover project for Los Angeles International Airport that will connect its nine terminals, rental car center, public transportation points and parking areas. LAWA announced last August that it had narrowed the field of prospective contractors to five. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2018, but airport officials have not yet selected a contractor.
Whichever company wins the LAX contract will be part of a public-private partnership (P3) with LAWA and will finance, design, build, operate and maintain the people mover. Airport officials said that using a P3 allows them to transfer risk to the private sector. They also said that the contractor will be incentivized to build a quality project because it will have to operate and maintain the end product.