$43.8 million contract for station improvements meets goals for DBE participation,includes local firms
The Chicago Transit Board today approved the award of a contract for station improvement work related to the Red Line South reconstruction project, one of the largest reconstruction projects in the CTA’s history and a multimillion-dollar investment in both Chicago’s South Side and the backbone of the CTA rail system.
The project, which begins in spring 2013, will completely rebuild the 43-year-old Red Line South—including all track, ties, ballast and drainage systems — from Cermak-Chinatown to 95th Street. The station work will renew and improve the eight stations along the project footprint, including painting and lighting, bus bridge improvements, and new roofs and canopies at some stations.
F. H. Paschen, S.N. Nielsen and Associates, LLC (“Paschen”) submitted the lowest bid for the station work component of the project at $43.875 million.
“We are looking forward to providing our south Red Line customers with improved stations that are cleaner, brighter and better than they have been in years,” said CTA President Forrest Claypool. “From cosmetic improvements and repairs to more substantial upgrades, like three new elevators at the Garfield, 63rd and 87th street stations, we are committed to giving our customers a new south Red Line experience.”
Paschen met the CTA’s target of 40 percent Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation by engaging the services of 13 DBE subcontractors.
The total DBE contract dollar amount is just over $17.5 million with 92.2 percent going to African-American firms, 7.8 percent to Hispanic firms and six percent to women-owned firms.
Since announcing the project in June, the CTA has worked diligently to make sure DBE subcontractors were aware of the Red Line South project—hosting seven meet-and-greet sessions pairing potential prime contractors with more than 160 companies to ensure that prime contractors engaged with DBE firms that may qualify for and be interested in the work.
“With the many improvements that will be made at the affected stations, CTA is continuing to take the steps necessary to fulfill its promise of a new south Red Line,” said Board Chairman Terry Peterson. “We’ve extended that commitment to the DBE community and we are very pleased that the contractor has focused on making sure that many of the companies hired to do this work reflect the community that is being impacted.”
The overall estimated budget for the project, including design, construction and additional CTA service, is $425 million. The project is part of more than $1 billion in federal, state and local funds being invested in the Red Line, the system’s busiest.
Since announcing the project in June, CTA has hosted three meetings to gather community input as well as several DBE meet-and-greet sessions. CTA also held three job fairs as part of its effort to fill as many as 400 part-time bus operator jobs needed for the expanded bus service during the five-month construction period.
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