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Task Order for St. Charles Streetcar Downtown Loop Track Replacement, Phase IV - Preliminary Engineering and Design Work
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DESCRIPTION: Request Board authorization to approve a task order for Infinity Engineering Consultants, LLC to complete preliminary engineering and design work for the St. Charles Streetcar Downtown Loop, Phase IV. |
AGENDA NO: Click or tap here to enter text. |
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ACTION REQUEST: ☒ Approval ☐ Review Comment ☐ Information Only ☐ Other |
RECOMMENDATION:
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Authorize the Chief Executive Officer to execute a task order with Infinity Engineering Consultants, LLC (Infinity) for preliminary engineering and design work for the St. Charles Streetcar Downtown Loop Track Replacement, Phase IV in an amount not to exceed $524,821.
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ISSUE/BACKGROUND:
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The streetcar tracks around and in the immediate vicinity of Harmony Circle contain complex track and special trackwork that are aging and in urgent need of replacement. Consequently, the RTA must initiate engineering work to replace the track and related infrastructure. This work-Phase IV of the Downtown Loop Track Replacement project-is part of RTA’s broader effort to keep the streetcar system in a state of good repair.
The rail replacement work around Harmony Circle also presents an opportunity to “future proof” the track for streetcar modernization efforts, including but not limited to the possible extension of the Rampart Loyola Streetcar down Howard Avenue to Harmony Circle. Thus, an essential component of this project will be to examine minor changes to track geometry to accommodate not only current St. Charles Streetcar service but also future streetcar service, consistent with RTA’s streetcar modernization study which is recently underway. Given the range of possible design outcomes and project costs, this task order will only authorize preliminary design work on the track replacement project, on the order of 15% design. This will allow RTA to examine the feasibility, tradeoffs, and costs of different design approaches prior to authorizing 100% design. RTA will separately procure at a future date detailed design work on the project, which will advance the project from 15% to 100% design.
At the same time, there is an urgent need to replace certain sections of the Harmony Circle track that have badly deteriorated. This task order will authorize Infinity to complete 100% design on short term replacement of the track that is most severely deteriorated. This immediate design and construction work will allow for continuous streetcar service in the near term while design work on the total replacement and modernization of Harmony Circle track is on-going.
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DISCUSSION:
To select a vendor to complete this scope, staff utilized the On-Call A&E pool of pre-qualified vendors (RFQ# 2020-035). A Request for Technical Proposals (RTP #2025-04) was sent to all vendors in the pool. Staff selected Infinity’s proposal for award as it was determined to be the highest quality Proposal. RTP #2025-04 envisioned a complete design scope in which the selected consultant would advance the design for the replacement of the track to 100% design. After internal deliberations and discussions with Infinity, RTA has instead decided to proceed with a more limited, initial phase of design work, which will inform a future final phase, which will be separately procured.
The task order with Infinity will be managed by the Capital Projects Division. There are two main components of the scope as outlined above. First, Infinity will develop preliminary (15%) design documents and cost estimates for two design scenarios: (a) replacing the existing track as is; and (b) a “future proofed” option designed to accommodate future streetcar service and modernization upgrades to complement the existing St. Charles Streetcar service. The second major component of the Task Order will be for Infinity to prepare 100% design documents for short-term replacement of critical special trackwork at Harmony Circle. This second component of the scope will also include construction administration services for short-term track replacement work.
By segmenting the design work in this way, RTA will ensure immediate safety and reliability improvements to Harmony Circle while presenting comprehensive design alternatives for full track replacement that will help RTA to make an informed decision before proceeding to final design.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
RTA and Infinity have agreed on a scope and price not to exceed $524,821 to complete the Task Order.
The funding for this project is from local capital dollars. The local funding is included in the 2026 capital budget and is also included in the FY2026-2030 Capital Investment Program (CIP). The budget code for these funds is 01-0000-00-1501-000-00-00-00000-00000.
NEXT STEPS:
Finalize and execute the Task Order with Infinity, issue a Notice-to-Proceed to kick off the project.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution
2. Request for Technical Proposal (RTP) #2025-04: St. Charles Streetcar - Downtown Loop Track Replacement, Phase 4
3. Infinity Proposal
4. Approval of change order request for Infinity including Independent Cost Estimate
Prepared By: Rafe Rabalais, rrabalais@rtaforward.org
Title: Director of Capital Projects
Reviewed By: Dwight Norton, dnorton@rtaforward.org
Title: Chief Planning and Capital Projects Officer
Reviewed By: Gizelle Banks,
Title: Chief Financial Officer
12/12/2025
Lona Edwards Hankins Date
Chief Executive Officer