In addition, the board voted to send out requests for a construction contractor who will do early construction and then present the Construction Authority with a project cost estimate based on the design team’s finished work. The Construction Authority can accept the bid from the contractor, or find another construction contractor. This leaves about $600 million for actual construction, said Habib Balian, CEO of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority. The at-risk in the name means the construction contractor assumes more risk than in other types of processes, such as the design-build approach used in other Construction Authority extension projects. Major construction on the Pomona to Claremont extension is expected to take four years, starting in 2027 and completing in late 2031, according to the Construction Authority.