In the on-going drama over Sea-Tac station for Link, the next station is going to cost $74 million, according to the DJC.
Sound Transit has put a new price tag on the light rail station at Sea-Tac Airport after months of value engineering and negotiations with the contractor, Mowat Construction. It will cost $74 million — $22 million more than the engineer’s estimate, even with a scaled-down design.The airport station was supposed to cost $52 million, but Sound Transit only received one bid for the project and it was $95.3 million. So the agency split the contract in two parts and retooled the design.
Sound Transit may transfer $12 million from an administrative fund — which would be an unusual move — to help pay for the airport station. Its finance committee is scheduled to discuss the matter today.
Last week the Sound Transit board directed staff to finish negotiating the second airport contract with Mowat rather than put it out for bid. Rebidding would delay light-rail service to the airport past the December 2009 deadline, staff said.
Well at least it’s going forward, but it’s unfortunate that it has come in so much more expensive.
The DJC also covers the drama surrounding the Totem Lake bus on-ramps:
It will also take an additional $3.8 million for Sound Transit to finish the beleaguered Totem Lake freeway station project.An HOV ramp at the station, which connects Interstate 405 and Kirkland’s Totem Lake area, had to be partially rebuilt last year after contractor Max J. Kuney Construction discovered long cracks in it. The cracks showed up after the contractor removed temporary supports holding up the ramp.
Engineers with the Washington State Department of Transportation designed the station for Sound Transit. They admitted the cracking was their fault because they didn’t put enough steel reinforcement in the concrete.
WSDOT did not say it would pay for the error. Former Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald suggested at the time that Sound Transit share responsibility for the cost overrun since it costs Sound Transit less to use WSDOT design and construction services than those of the private sector.
Sound Transit approved $2.2 million to fix the ramp last March in order to keep the project going. Now, the agency needs to put in an additional $3.8 million, and may transfer the money out of a reserve budget.
The additional costs — which Sound Transit said it expects will be reimbursed — brings the total project budget to $80 million.
“Sound Transit would not be moving forward with this budget amendment request if we were not confident that the costs to pay for the repairs will be reimbursed by WSDOT,” said agency spokesperson Bruce Gray.
Looks like the Board has a full plate for today’s meeting.
If the DOT doesn’t pay for their mistake then ST is going to get burned. I don’t get why WSDOT engineers are designing such faulty designs?? Did they design the Mercer Island P&R as well? Hmm…seems fishy?
Speaking of new ramps, I’ve noticed at the new 142nd place ramp on I-90 in eastgate there is a big problem with single occupancy vehicles. I would say well over 40 percent of the cars that are using this HOV ramp, both coming and going, have only one person in them. Who’s job is it to sit at the top of the ramp and write tickets or give people warnings? The State Patrol or the City of Bellevue?
They don’t have enough cops giving tickets for HOV violators.
By this point, 520 would have qualified for interstate funding if those damned engineers had made the road straighter.
BTW, I am an engineer and dad was and his dad as well :P
Sam, have you dialed 1-877-764-HERO? Get make, model and license plate and the violators will get a nice letter.
cjh, thanks. I would do that, but it’s just such pervasive problem that I think it might be better for there to be an emphasis patrol in that location, until people are educated and taught that that ramp is for HOV use only. A police officer or patrolman could literally stand at the top of the ramp between 7-9 AM in the morning, and watch a single occupancy car drive up the ramp every couple of minutes.
Will the additional costs bring the Sea-Tac station any closer to the airport, or will one still have to drag one’s luggage 1/4 mile to a terminal entrance?
Is there anywhere some description of the actual passenger/terminal interface?
Sam, I don’t think it’s actually that pervasive. There are so many cars that use that stretch of I-90 that even a 5% violation rate will seem like a lot (but a 5% violation is less than the national average).
Anyway, it is a good question as to why the Bellevue PD or State Patrol don’t watch that on-ramp a bit more. But this is very tangential to the discussion taking place on how and why WSDOT is cheap.
Does anyone know the proposed cost/fare of taking the light rail from downtown to Seatac airport once finished?