NC: Raleigh BRT line delayed, as city tries a third time to find someone to build it

Raleigh is once again trying to find contractors to build North Carolina’s first bus rapid transit line. This time the city is trying a different strategy, one that will further delay the project.

Last year, the city twice sought bids from construction companies to build the New Bern Avenue BRT line, which will run 5.4 miles between downtown and a planned park-and-ride lot off New Hope Road. The first time, no one bid. The second attempt yielded one bid that was more than $41 million higher than the city’s estimates and was rejected.

Now the city has begun to put the project out to bid again, but in stages. The first step is to find someone to do the paving, sidewalk and utility work along New Bern Avenue and Wilmington, Blount, Edenton streets between downtown and Poole Road. Bids are due June 20.

By year’s end, the city will put out two more bid packages, the first for the section between Poole Road and Interstate 440, and the second for I-440 out to New Hope Road. That last contract would also include construction of stations and platforms along the entire route.

By breaking the project into pieces, the city hopes to make it easier and more appealing for companies to take on. The city also tweaked the bid specifications in response to suggestions from contractors, said Julia Milstead, city spokeswoman.

“We are very optimistic,” Milstead wrote in an email. “Since the previous bid efforts, we have held an industry day event in January 2025 bringing in interested contractors as well as had one-on-one conversations with more than 10 local and regional contractors to gather feedback that has been incorporated into this bid advertisement, which should make it more attractive.”

Contract delays help push BRT back by five years

Raleigh held a groundbreaking ceremony for the New Bern BRT line in late 2023 and hoped to begin construction the following spring. At the time, the city officials said they expected the line would be completed by the end of 2025.

But the two failed attempts to begin construction set that timetable back. In response to concerns from contractors, Raleigh is also allowing more time to complete the work, pushing the likely completion back further, according to Het Patel, the city transit planner overseeing the project.

“Based on the recent feedback received and construction timelines that contractors communicated were more achievable, we anticipate construction completion and operations by summer 2030,” Patel wrote in an email.

If Raleigh can pull it off, the bus rapid transit line will be the Triangle’s first successful mass transit beyond traditional city buses. Attempts to develop light rail or commuter rail have failed in the region, but the relative simplicity and lower cost of BRT put it within reach.

With BRT, special articulated buses will use dedicated lanes and get guaranteed green lights at intersections to keep them moving faster. Passengers will pay fares in advance and board at one of 10 stations with elevated, covered platforms.

The Wake Transit Plan, which voters endorsed when they approved a half-cent sales tax for transit in 2016, calls for four BRT lines, radiating from downtown Raleigh. The New Bern Avenue line will be the first.

The city expected to spend about $97 million on the New Bern line. That includes planning, the cost of right-of-way and the purchase of the special buses, which have doors on both sides and lower floors to ease loading and unloading at the stations.

The project is financed by a combination of federal and local tax dollars. Raleigh has received $47 million from the Federal Transit Administration, while $49.75 million will come from the city and the half-cent sales tax.

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