CATS to Request Blue Line Extension Contract Amendment

On June 8, Charlotte Area Transit System will request that Charlotte City Council approve the request for the City Manager to negotiate and execute amendments to the Lynx Blue Line Extension Project Civil A construction contract with Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc./Blythe Development Company (Joint Venture) for a total amount up to $7.3 million; HNTB North Carolina PC for management consultant services for a total up to $10 million; and STV Inc. for design and construction management services for a total up $2.2 million. The overall project budget of $1.16 billion will not change because of these amendments.

These amendments are necessary to keep the project on schedule with an opening date of summer 2017. Approving the amendments will not cost taxpayers additional money due to the budget savings the project experienced when the contract was awarded in January 2014. With these amendments the contractors are able to do more work simultaneously, increase staff and provide more design services during construction, while recovering the contract schedule. Without these amendments, we expect the community would experience increased traffic delays and congestion due to the elongated construction time period. The project would also incur significant costs in contract claims due to extended overhead, increased material costs and storage fees.

The need to recover the schedule is due to additional testing that was required by the railroads that currently operate in the corridor. There was also more excavation that was needed than originally anticipated. In a large project like the Blue Line Extension, it is not uncommon to experience delays due to unforeseen circumstances. CATS is committed to working through those situations and delivering the Blue Line Extension Project to the community on time and within budget. These amendments will provide the best opportunity to meet the projected schedule date of summer 2017.