finances
Project Executive to present Cost to Cancel Streetcar
Streetcar Project Executive, John Deatrick, will be giving his estimate of the cost to cancel the Cincinnati Streetcar at a special meeting of the Finance Committee, Thursday, November 21, at 12:00pm.
Open to the public, the presentation will take place at City Hall in council chambers on the Third Floor. There will be no public comment taken but supporters are encouraged to attend.
Follow the event on Facebook, or tune into Twitter and follow the hashtag #CincyStreetcar. If you are unable to attend the meeting, it will be broadcast live online.
(extra seating in the gallery, Fourth Floor)
City signs construction contract, phase one opening set for September 2016
The City of Cincinnati signed a contract for construction of the Cincinnati Streetcar system yesterday with Messer/Prus/Delta JV.
According to City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr., the signed contract means that materials will be ordered and preparation for construction of the trackway, Maintenance & Operations Facility (MOF), power system (including overhead power lines and substations), and station stops can begin immediately.
Due to the delays in signing the contract, City Manager Dohoney says that the contract price has gone up $492,933, which will be covered through the project’s contingency funds that are already in place.
The vast majority of the increased costs come from increased material ($240,000) and labor ($215,648) expenses. The remainder came from increased cold weather protection ($30,000) and increased bonding costs ($7,285).
Following the allocation of this money, the city will still have another $9.4 million in the project’s contingency fund.
The update from City Hall also included new project schedule milestones. It is now anticipated that test track and MOF substantial completion will be March 1, 2015. Track work, meanwhile, in Over-the-Rhine will be substantially complete by June 29, 2015 and completion on all of phase one work is anticipated for March 15, 2016.
Should these contract milestones hold up, city officials believe passenger service will commence on September 15, 2016 – just in time for the Bengals regular season.
Utility relocation work is continuing throughout Over-the-Rhine and the Central Business District. Over the weekend, intensive utility work by Duke Energy took place along Walnut Street at Fifth Street. Work, the city manager says, will continue along Walnut Street this week and gas main relocation will begin along Elm Street in OTR this week as well.