Federal infrastructure stimulus announced in February could pave the way to faster development at Sacramento’s 244-acre Railyards. The long-planned mixed-use project owned by S. Thomas Enterprises was selected by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments to receive $20 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. The stimulus funds will push work on track realignment and road building ahead by six months, according to Suheil Totah, vice president of Thomas Enterprises. “This is tremendously significant for the project because the money wasn’t expected and now we will be able to move forward on items that had been put on hold,” Totah says.
Before the ARRA stimulus was announced, Thomas Enterprises pre-qualified a short list of contractors for a series of contracts to install infrastructure on the site. The list includes bridge-builder Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based C.C. Myers, Inc., Omaha, Neb.-based Kiewit Pacific and Sacramento, Calif.-based Teichert Construction. Bidding closed March 31 on a $150,000 contract for rehabilitation grading to refill holes left during the environmental remediation of what the Environmental Protection Agency identified as a National Priorities List site. It involved moving about 17,000 yards of dirt and demolishing and removing two concrete slabs.