Norfolk Light Rail and Transit

[ronsmytheiii]

Oops. Some of the concrete laid around the embedded light-rail track behind City Hall does not meet minimum standards and is being torn out. While the mistake was made by a contractor, which must absorb the cost of redoing the job, the timing is unfortunate, Hampton Roads Transit spokesman Tom Holden said. The transit agency has been harshly criticized for cost overruns and schedule delays on the construction of Norfolk's light-rail starter line. Its president and CEO, Michael Townes, will step down later this month and retire in September.

Where is the head banging the counter emoticon?

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/01/part-norfolks-lightrail-work-must-be-ripped-out

[Norfolk4Life]

at least the contractor eats the cost... when they found out things like those piling that were not discovered as they should have been, the surveyor should have eaten the cost.

[Norfolk4Life]

it will be a neat view on the approach to downtown...

[ronsmytheiii]

Some good news:

NORFOLK -- The city of Norfolk is extending light rail construction hours to try to prevent future delays with the project. Right now crews primarily work from 7 am until 4 or 5 pm, according to Public Works Director John Keifer. The new agreement would allow them to work until 2 am.

"The primary thing on the project is just to get it done as quickly as we can," explained Keifer.

Representatives from the city and Hampton Roads Transit discussed the plans with people who live in the Freemason section of Norfolk Monday night.

Keifer promised crews would not do any of the loud construction work after 10 pm, but he could not say which activities would be prohibited.

"We know they can't jackhammer after 10 pm and we talked about some other activities, but we don't have specifics yet," said Keifer. "That's something we'll have to work out with the contractor."

http://www.wvec.com/news/Norfolk-extends-light-rail-construction-hours-82650652.html

Hopefully it wont cost more...

[brikkman]

Why didn't they think to do that in the beginning, especially for the areas that impact traffic the most?

[Ghentite]

Why didn't they think to do that in the beginning, especially for the areas that impact traffic the most?

Yeah, no kidding.

[Norfolk4Life]

they have been in areas downtown, but not in places like the freemason side of Boush

[mlsimons]

Light Rail was supposed to be done by now!!!! I can't believe its taking soo long!

[urbanlife]

Light Rail was supposed to be done by now!!!! I can't believe its taking soo long!

The first line always takes longer than expected.

[Glassoul]

The first line always takes longer than expected.

and the next one after that, and the next one, and the next one and t...

[usermel]

Hhahahahahaah! You guys are funny. I feel all of you and agree!!! L.G.N.M

[Case]

I surprised there wasn't more (or any post) regarding the High Speed Rail, kick off or promotional tour at the Half Moon Terminal. I was in attendance, but missed the opening speaker. The turnout was greater than expected.. greater than that in Richmond.

I have to say I was somewhat surreal seeing officials from VA Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk speaking with one voice and endorsing one plan. We could be a competitive region after all. This could lead to greater cooperation on an assortment of areas, hopefully making us a counterbalance to the more cohesive NOVA block in state government.

The preferred plan will effectively run from Washington to Richmond to Petersburg to Chesapeake then the Harbor Park Light Rail station in Norfolk. If this plan is approved VA Beach would have to be Nuts not to join Light Rail. Believe me the Ocean front tourism lobby was in attendance. VA Beach mayor Sessions is winning a lot of friends in HR by backing the plan to Norfolk. He is clearly interested in thawing the Norfolk, VA Beach relationship to something more productive.

Given the National mood it was refreshing to see Democrats and Republican official stand in a room without a hint of partisan tension, but VA has been better about that than many other states.

[ronsmytheiii]

Hampton Roads Transit’s new president and CEO Philip Shucet said today that he will deliver a final cost to complete construction of Norfolk’s light rail project with the next two and a half weeks.

Glad he is being open, but why do I have a pit in my stomach?

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/02/new-hrt-chief-give-final-light-rail-cost-2-12-weeks

[urbanlife]

Glad he is being open, but why do I have a pit in my stomach?

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/02/new-hrt-chief-give-final-light-rail-cost-2-12-weeks

That will go away once the trains start running and there begins more talks about new lines.

[ronsmytheiii]

Sewer line relocation will cause lane closures on St. Paul's Boulevard beginning Tuesday, according to the city. On Tuesday, and continuing through the month, the road will be reduced to one northbound lane and two southbound lanes between East Main Street and City Hall Avenue, a city news release says.

The closures are the first phase of the project, which is being scheduled to coordinate with light rail work on City Hall Avenue, the city says.

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/02/lane-closures-begin-week-norfolks-st-pauls-boulevard

[varider]

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/02/hrt-chief-lightrail-soft-costs-are-way-out-line

Nearly half of the budget to build Norfolk's light-rail starter line is "soft costs" such as consulting, legal and administrative fees, which is almost twice the norm for this kind of project, Hampton Roads Transit's new leader, Philip Shucet, told the City Council on Tuesday.

"This is absolutely astounding," Councilman W. Randy Wright, who serves on HRT's board, said Tuesday. "It shows how poorly things had been managed."

Vice Mayor Anthony Burfoot called the soft costs "outrageous."

"I like the fact that (Shucet) is going to pull this thing apart like an onion to understand where it is and how we got there, then extract from that to get us on the right track," he said.

The true cost of Norfolk's 7.4-mile light-rail line is still not clear, Shucet said. HRT staff, with input from consultant AECOM, are working to develop a final cost-to-completion number and present it to the HRT board at a special meeting Feb. 18.

"It will be a number that everyone at HRT will own," he said.

The previous HRT administration over the past several months estimated that the cost had risen 47 percent - from the original $232 million budget to $288 million, then to $328 million and again to $340 million.

"None of those numbers are reliable," Shucet said. "We will determine a reliable number.... Our goal will be to stop the continued upper trend of this cost."

The financial and construction challenges have pushed the opening date of The Tide, as the rail line is known, to late spring or, more likely, summer of 2011, Shucet said.

He said HRT is still searching for funds to complete the project. At $288 million, the federal share was $167.2 million, the state was contributing $67.1 million and the city, $53.7 million. The state has committed an additional $20 million, and federal authorities are expected to add $7 million. Norfolk could be responsible for the balance unless other funding is secured.

"The hope and intention is to hold the city harmless or absolutely as harmless as we can possibly do," Shucet said.

A number of steps have been taken to contain costs. Shucet said they include consolidating the two biggest construction contracts, saving $7.5 million; ending the practice of open-ended task orders with no defined costs; implementing double work shifts downtown; and adding incentives and penalties in construction contracts.

Under Townes' leadership, HRT's lack of communication about light rail's problems was seen as eroding the agency's credibility.

"We are committed to a culture of communication and transparency," Shucet said.

Mayor Paul Fraim told Shucet he was counting on openness: "Tell us the truth every time you come in here."

It just gets worse and worse. My interest on this LRT thing is really waning.Any guesses on what the final number will be?? My guess is somewhere near $400M. && I can't believe opening day has been pushed back 1.5 years. WTF. It was supposed to open Jan. 1, 2010. Now we are looking at Summer 2011. What's next? 2012? Why has this project been managed so poorly.

[urbanlife]

It just gets worse and worse. My interest on this LRT thing is really waning.Any guesses on what the final number will be?? My guess is somewhere near $400M. && I can't believe opening day has been pushed back 1.5 years. WTF. It was supposed to open Jan. 1, 2010. Now we are looking at Summer 2011. What's next? 2012? Why has this project been managed so poorly.

My guess is that when light rail started in the region, HRT didnt bring in anyone that was an expert from another city that has a well established light rail system, and they simply tried to wing it, figuring they could figure it out as they go, but clearly that did not work to well for them...but then again, when has HRT ever run efficiently? The transit system of Hampton Roads is in serious need of an overhaul and that probably includes most of the higher up people in HRT.

[HopHead]

I think it's pretty much unheard of for any project to go completely according to plan without some hiccups. Cost overruns, not surprising. A lot of these light rail projects are new endeavors and finding someone who has successfully run one without problems is probably in a pretty limited pool. We had our own problems in Charlotte, but it eventually got done. You won't make every resident/taxpayer happy. It's just not possible. The fact that Norfolk will eventually get theirs done, even if it's a few years off schedule is an accomplishment.

[brikkman]

Overruns are bad, but I think a lot of the "hate" that has been generated comes from the misunderstanding of how funds were obtained for the project. Many people think Norfolk invested the entire pot, when really they recieved it from the government to do just what they are doing with it now. That is very important, someone mentioned this in previous post, if we did not take the money and used it, it would have went to someone else to do the same kind of project. In order words, we could not apply for the money and then used it for something else other than for the LRT project.

[usermel]

One word! Mess! L.G.N.M

[virginia pe]

A lot of these light rail projects are new endeavors and finding someone who has successfully run one without problems is probably in a pretty limited pool.

That's true. But if you cannot find someone with light rail experience, then at least hire someone with experience running a large civil construction project. Someone familiar with dealing with contractors, engineers, unforeseen conditions, change orders, schedules, delays, etc. Overseeing a large-scale construction project is very different from managing an up-and-running bus system. Someone at the city or at HRT should have realized that the current HRT staff was not up to the job and insisted that someone with the necessary experience be brought in.

[urbanlife]

That's true. But if you cannot find someone with light rail experience, then at least hire someone with experience running a large civil construction project. Someone familiar with dealing with contractors, engineers, unforeseen conditions, change orders, schedules, delays, etc. Overseeing a large-scale construction project is very different from managing an up-and-running bus system. Someone at the city or at HRT should have realized that the current HRT staff was not up to the job and insisted that someone with the necessary experience be brought in.

Though I will say, Seattle has had a huge overrun with their costs to light rail because the transit department that had to do all the work in the beginning was a staff of 10 people who were not able to figure out all of the numbers when it came to the overall cost, thus under priced everything...but seriously, HRT is definitely at that point that they need to start correcting these errors and looking for the right people to help run it from here on out.

[virginia pe]

HRT is definitely at that point that they need to start correcting these errors and looking for the right people to help run it from here on out.

I think Phil Shucet is the right man. I do not know him personnally, but he has an impressive resume. When he took over as Commissioner of VDOT under Gov. Warner, the I-64 / Mercury Blvd. project near the Coliseum in Hampton was under construction and was a mess. After he came on board, the remainder of the project stayed on budget and on schedule. The "mixing bowl" project at I-95, I-395, and I-495 i n Springfield was even worse, and he turned that project around, too. Most recently, he was the lead person for the private consortium that is going to build the replacement toll bridge for the Jordan Bridge between I-464 in Chesapeake and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth. He resigned that position to take the HRT job.

My only reservation about Mr. Shucet (pronounced "Shoe-KET") is that he is to run all of HRT. I think he is the man to get the light-rail construction right. But as I said in my earlier post, mananging a large-scale construction project is much different that managing an up-and-running bus company. Townes ran the bus company but was over-whelmed by the construction project. It may be the opposite for Mr. Shucet.

[Glassoul]

I think Phil Shucet is the right man. I do not know him personnally, but he has an impressive resume. When he took over as Commissioner of VDOT under Gov. Warner, the I-64 / Mercury Blvd. project near the Coliseum in Hampton was under construction and was a mess. After he came on board, the remainder of the project stayed on budget and on schedule. The "mixing bowl" project at I-95, I-395, and I-495 i n Springfield was even worse, and he turned that project around, too. Most recently, he was the lead person for the private consortium that is going to build the replacement toll bridge for the Jordan Bridge between I-464 in Chesapeake and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth. He resigned that position to take the HRT job.

My only reservation about Mr. Shucet (pronounced "Shoe-KET") is that he is to run all of HRT. I think he is the man to get the light-rail construction right. But as I said in my earlier post, mananging a large-scale construction project is much different that managing an up-and-running bus company. Townes ran the bus company but was over-whelmed by the construction project. It may be the opposite for Mr. Shucet.

Those concerns might justified over the long-term, but HRT doesn't need an operations guy at the helm right now. They need someone with significant PM experience, and based on the resume you posted it sounds like Shucet will be a step in the right direction. I'm sure there's a wealth of managers there that know how to run a city bus schedule. Let them take care of that piece, and he take care of getting LRT completed without any additional slippage and cost overruns.

[vaceltic]

I predict Phil won't stay at HRT long after LRT is done. That is what he was hired to oversee. When it's done, he'll be done and move on to bigger and better things.