Central Corridor LRT contracts well below budget
The Central Corridor light-rail transit (LRT) project is well poised for 2011, when federal approval of a Full Funding Grant Agreement is anticipated in March and construction will proceed at full throttle.
In December 2010, the Council awarded the last of the five major construction and procurement contracts for the line. The low bid included $41.9 million for the operation and maintenance (O & M) facility at the edge of downtown St. Paul, and $1.2 million for betterments at the Hiawatha LRT facility (requested and paid for by Metro Transit).
Workers pour cement for a sidewalk at Fourth and Robert in downtown St. Paul.
Combined, the five Central Corridor LRT contracts – for construction of the eastern and western segments of the line, the line systems, the O & M facility, and procurement of LRT vehicles – are $34 million below budget.
“We hit the market very well and had very favorable bids,” said Mark Fuhrmann, program director of New Starts rail projects for Metro Transit.
Major achievements on the project in 2010
- Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved and promised funding for three infill stations on the eastern portion of the line. Local authorities quickly approved matching funds.
- Council applied to FTA for Full Funding Grant Agreement. The FFGA is the federal government’s promise to reimburse project partners for half the cost of building the $957 million line.
- Agreement was reached on design and construction for the portion of the line going through the University of Minnesota campus.
- Council and Central Corridor Funders Collaborative announced $1.5 million Ready for Rail Initiative, which will provide interest-free loans to small businesses along the line during construction.
- Fourth St. utility relocation and road construction substantially completed in downtown St. Paul.
- Heavy construction initiated near the State Capitol.
- Road improvements substantially completed on U of M East Bank campus.
- Private utility relocation started on West Bank.
- Heavy construction on the western three miles of the line commenced with work to strengthen the Washington Avenue Bridge piers.
“It was a very active and very successful year of progress on the Central Corridor,” Fuhrmann said.