FTA authorizes Final Design on North, Southeast light rail lines

Next: Full Funding Agreement

Steve Hawley, Aug 18, 09.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has authorized METRO to begin the Final Design process on the North and Southeast light rail lines, according to a METRO press release. The approval is the final step before a Full Funding Grant Agreement, which would provide METRO with federal funding and is expected later this year.

METRO states:

The approval authorizes METRO to undertake construction preparation activities such as utility relocation, right-of-way acquisition, development of detailed specifications and preparation of final construction plans.

In its letters, the FTA noted that METRO has adequately defined the North and Southeast Corridor’s project scope, cost estimate, schedule and potential risk areas. It also states that METRO has demonstrated the technical capacity and capability to construct and implement the projects and has sufficient technical and management resources to enter into final design work.

METRO officially broke ground on the North and Southeast lines in July and issued a work order for $121 million to begin preliminary work along the lines. The agency signed a $1.46 billion design-build-operate contract in March for the North, Southeast, and East End lines, as well as for preliminary work along the Uptown corridor. A separate contract will cover the University line.

At the City Council Transportation, Infrastructure, and Aviation Committee meeting last month, METRO President & CEO Frank Wilson testified that the work will be completed in four distinct phases: utility work, road widening, guideway work, and finishing touches. No roads will be completely closed, although some might be shut down to one lane for a time. The multiple-stage process is designed to minimize impacts on businesses and residents. When METRO constructed the Main Street line, by contrast, it tore up all of Main Street at once, causing many complaints and forcing some businesses to close.

Preliminary construction on the East End line began last summer, while the University line, Wilson said, is at least nine months behind the North and Southeast lines.