City transit hub nearing completion
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Work on the final phase of Washington City Transit’s long-delayed bus depot could begin later this month after construction bids arrived last week under budget.
“The light at the end of the tunnel seems to be at hand,” City Transit Director Joe Thomas said. “It’ll be nice to finally make plans to furnish and move into the facility, rather than worrying about whether we can complete it.”
The authority on March 2 opened the bids to complete the second floor of the intermodal transit facility on East Chestnut Street that came in about $27,000 below the anticipated $400,000 budget.
If the three separate contracts for work are formally accepted after they’re reviewed, construction could begin at the end of the month and the hub will be completed in late spring or early summer, Thomas said. Washington Rides, a subsidiary of the county, will occupy the second floor of the building. City Transit has waited to move into its mostly completed first-floor headquarters until the entire project is finished.
“I’m very happy that it appears we’re finally moving forward to complete it,” Thomas said.
The $4.1 million transit hub where the former East Chestnut Street parking garage was located has been riddled with delays. The bus depot was supposed to open last June, but frigid weather last winter and design changes delayed the completion date over and over again. West Penn Power connected electricity to the building in December – later than expected due to the area’s bustling economic development – and pushed back other work needing to be completed inside.
Planning for the transit hub began in 2009, and construction started in August 2013.
City Transit and Washington Parking Authority, both of which will use the first floor of the building, could have moved into that section of the building earlier this year, but Thomas said they decided to wait until the entire building was finished. He did not immediately know if the authority would have to dip into reserve funds to complete the project.
For the latest part of the project, Fleer Contracting LLC was the low bidder for general trades with $168,225; Allegheny City Electric Inc. bid $93,700 for electrical work; and Controlled Climate Systems Inc. bid $110,500 for mechanical work.