9/11/02
BOARD APPROVES CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS
The Chicago Transit Board at its monthly meeting today approved a construction management contract for a firm that will work on the upcoming Brown Line expansion and Clark Junction projects.
Consoer Townsend Envirodyne Engineers, Inc. (CTE Engineers) participated in a competitive bidding process for the $22.3 million contract for the Brown Line and Clark Junction. Funding for the contract is provided by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Regional Transportation Administration (RTA), Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Illinois FIRST.
As a construction manager, CTE Engineers will participate in construction planning and design review during the pre-construction phase and will handle the day-to-day construction management of the large-scale construction contracts, which have not yet been awarded. The firm will be responsible for providing inspectors, resident engineers and document management, as well as ensuring the work is done properly and on schedule. The CTA's Capital Construction department will oversee CTE Engineers.
CTA Board Chairman Valerie B. Jarrett said, "This continues to be an exciting time for the CTA. CTE will provide needed professional expertise to ensure that the Brown Line and Clark Junction improvements proceed efficiently and in a timely manner. We are eager for our customers to experience the benefits provided by these continued improvements to our system."
?Construction management firms have valuable experience in managing daily construction activities and are able to address the many daily issues associated with projects of this scope," said CTA President Frank Kruesi. "Thanks to the leadership and support of U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Governor George Ryan's Illinois FIRST program and Mayor Richard M. Daley, the CTA continues to move toward a state of good repair. Improvements to our infrastructure and facilities help us to provide service that is on-time, clean, safe and friendly."
The Brown Line is the CTA's third busiest rail line serving 47,000 customers each weekday.
The CTA is negotiating a Full Funding Grant Agreement with the FTA. The Agreement will guarantee the CTA will receive the full amount of funding committed by the federal government for the project. Once the funding is in place, a construction date will be set. The CTA hopes to begin construction by late 2003. The project will extend platforms at 18 stations to accommodate eight-car trains and increase capacity by 33 percent, 16 stations will be reconstructed and 13 will have elevators installed, making all accessible to customers with disabilities. Signal, electrical and communications upgrades will be made as well. The Brown Line design, engineering and construction budget is$476 million.
Clark Junction is the location where Brown, Purple and Red Line trains merge on the city's North Side, just north of the Belmont Station. Rehab of the 100-year-old facility is scheduled to start this fall and be completed in the summer of 2005 and will include replacing worn sections of track; installing special trackwork; and upgrading third rail power, communications and signal systems. Upon completion, trains will operate faster. The project is expected to cost $60.7 million.
Brown Line expansion and the Clark Junction project are the latest in a series of infrastructure rehab projects slated by the CTA. On September 10, 2001, the CTA broke ground on the $482.6 million renovation of the Cermak (Douglas) Branch of the Blue Line. The project is on time and on budget. Currently, 71 percent of the caissons that support columns have been poured, 62 percent of new columns that will support the track structure have been constructed and 27 percent of rail spans have been replaced. Completion is expected in 2005.
# # #