The Valley Metro Rail Board has unanimously approved Jacobs Engineering Inc. for Northwest Phase II Light Rail Extension design services. Jacobs Engineering will collaborate with the project’s construction contractor, Kiewit-McCarthy, city of Phoenix, station artists and local community to determine the best means and methods for design and construction of the project.

Kiewit-McCarthy, Joint Venture, was named the project’s Construction Manager at Risk in September 2017. They will lead the pre-construction phase, which occurs parallel to the project’s design process, and the construction phase. Kiewit built a portion of the original 20-mile light rail system, the 3-mile extension to Mesa Drive in Mesa and is the Construction Manager for the South Central Extension in Phoenix.

Art will be incorporated along the Northwest Extension, including on the three stations platforms and at the park-and-ride.

Phase II of the Northwest Extension will extend light rail west on Dunlap Avenue from 19th Avenue, north on 25th Avenue and across I-17 on Mountain View Road with a terminus on the west side of the freeway near Metrocenter Mall. In 2016, the Phoenix City Council approved accelerating the Northwest Phase II project to open in 2023 rather than 2026. The advancement is funded through Transportation 2050, a 35-year, multi-modal transportation plan approved by Phoenix voters.