SJ BART extension faces nearly 2-year delay as VTA weighs new contractor to save $1.2B

SILICON VALLEY’S LONG-AWAITED BART expansion could be delayed for another year and a half while officials consider cutting one of the project’s largest contracts to save costs.

VTA wants to look for a new contractor to bore the expansion’s five-mile tunnel, after being unable to reach an agreement with the current contractor, Kiewit Shea Traylor. The public transit agency is looking to cut up to $1.2 billion from the expansion’s total $12.75 billion cost, in order to receive a $5.1 billion grant from the Federal Transit Administration.