Valley Metro CEO explains tripled estimate for light rail expansion
UPDATED JULY 17, 2019 By Peter Samore - KTAR
Quote:
PHOENIX — In 2015, Phoenix voters approved a measure that would allot $550 million for light rail expansion from downtown Phoenix east to the South Mountain Village Core.
But newer documents that Valley Metro Rail filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation and its Federal Transit Administration estimated costs at about $1.35 billion.
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I happen to catch this on the radio couple of days ago when I was flipping between Bloomberg Business and KTAR. Sounded crazy but I didn't see any other coverage with a quick check and forgot about it.
Now KTAR has added an update where Scott Smith responds.
Quote:
Valley Metro CEO Scott Smith explained that figure now includes metro rail expansion from downtown Phoenix west to the Arizona State Capitol. “All of that work was expected to be done as a separate project, and now is included as a single project,” Smith said. “So, when you add all of that up, it’s a billion-dollar project.”
Smith said the rest of the estimated cost is 40% contingency as required by the FTA. “A lot of that is money we don’t ever expect to spend, but it is required by the federal government for cost-estimating purposes,” Smith added.
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Jim Sharpe didn't seem too keen on light rail when he spoke with Scott Mussi, president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, who made the claim that costs had tripled.
40% is a helluva contingency amount. Last I knew they had raised it from 20% to 30%. I'll assume this is to reflect the cost increases experienced generally in construction. With most of these projects being originally estimated years ago it's understandable; not sure Phoenix will experience all of that 40% increase and Scott indicates they won't.
The concern here is that a nice gift-wrapped present was given to the opposition by allowing them to toot their horn prior to Valley Metro getting out in front of this.