The Oceanside, Calif.-based North County Transit District's SPRINTER rail line won the 2009 "Project of the Year" for projects valued at more than $75 million from the American Public Works Association (APWA), an international professional association of public agencies and private companies.

The SPRINTER was previously named the regional Project of the Year and then submitted for national recognition. The APWA Project of the Year Awards are presented annually to promote excellence in the management and administration of public works projects.

The SPRINTER began service in March 2008 on a 22-mile route between Oceanside and Escondido and currently carries more than 8,000 passengers each day, serving the most densely populated and transit-friendly corridor in North County.  It links to various BREEZE bus routes along that corridor as well as to the COASTER, Amtrak and Metrolink rail services out of Oceanside.

APWA's citation of the SPRINTER says, "By constructing 15 new station platforms and associated parking lots and providing new drainage structures, bridges, track grade crossings, signal and train dispatch systems, a dilapidated railway built over a century ago in 1888 was put to good use moving people in a more environmentally friendly way than cars on the freeways."

NCTD was also recognized for "extensive coordination with local jurisdictions to address traffic control requirements, pedestrian access and public safety during construction."

The SPRINTER project's primary design consultant was AECOM, construction was managed by Simon Wong Engineering and project construction was performed by West Coast Rail Constructors, a joint venture of FCI and Fluor.