hkskyline
May 8th, 2005, 07:52 AM
SEPTA to resume rebuilding of El
By Jere Downs, The Philadelphia Inquirer
6 May 2005
May 6--Despite uncertainty over who will pay for a $74 million disputed contract, SEPTA will resume rebuilding of the Market-Frankford El in West Philadelphia -- construction that will bring major disruptions to riders and residents.
Next month, SEPTA will hire a replacement contractor to finish work on the western end of the $567 million project to rebuild the century-old elevated train line, SEPTA general manager Faye Moore said yesterday.
SEPTA remains locked in a lawsuit brought by PKF Mark III of Newtown, contractor for the Cobbs Creek project terminated by the transit agency last December.
Still unknown, Moore said, is whether the bonding company that insured the project will pick up SEPTA's costs for delays and unfinished work. Moore declined to put a value on those costs yesterday.
PKF Mark III contends that the transit agency persistently interfered with construction. SEPTA has countered that it sought to remedy serious safety concerns.
The bonding company "has yet to make their decision," Moore said. "We just have to wait."
Citing the lawsuit, PKF Mark III president Peter Getchell declined comment yesterday.
Meanwhile, Moore announced plans to close Market Street and detour up to 150,000 El riders onto buses for parts of the spring and summer.
Beginning May 31, SEPTA will close the 56th Street station until late November. Shuttle buses will transport riders from Upper Darby's 69th Street Terminal to the 40th Street station when the El shuts down on weekends in June.
The buses will also run for two nine-day shutdowns in July and August and serve riders who use the 56th Street Station.
West Philadelphia neighbors should brace themselves for dust, noise, traffic, and around-the-clock construction activity in the narrow, densely populated Market Street corridor, SEPTA officials warned at a news conference yesterday.
The shutdown will bring giant cranes and a hive of workers who will rebuild stations, cut down and remove the old El, and erect a sleek, single-column structure in its place.
"It will be noise, lights and dirt, 24 [hours a day] seven [days a week]," Moore said. "This is one of the largest construction projects in SEPTA's history."
SEPTA community affairs specialists will be in the neighborhood to give out information and help residents cope, said Frances Jones, the SEPTA official in charge of community affairs.
Telling neighbors now of El shutdowns to come, she said, "allows people to make decisions. They can go and stay with a friend... or take a vacation."
Despite the delays, a new El and the replacement of stations from 46th Street to Millbourne is still on track for SEPTA's original 2008 completion date, Moore said.
Work this year will stretch between 56th and 61st Streets. El trains will still operate from 52d Street to the eastern end of the line at the Frankford Terminal in Northeast Philadelphia, she said.
By Jere Downs, The Philadelphia Inquirer
6 May 2005
May 6--Despite uncertainty over who will pay for a $74 million disputed contract, SEPTA will resume rebuilding of the Market-Frankford El in West Philadelphia -- construction that will bring major disruptions to riders and residents.
Next month, SEPTA will hire a replacement contractor to finish work on the western end of the $567 million project to rebuild the century-old elevated train line, SEPTA general manager Faye Moore said yesterday.
SEPTA remains locked in a lawsuit brought by PKF Mark III of Newtown, contractor for the Cobbs Creek project terminated by the transit agency last December.
Still unknown, Moore said, is whether the bonding company that insured the project will pick up SEPTA's costs for delays and unfinished work. Moore declined to put a value on those costs yesterday.
PKF Mark III contends that the transit agency persistently interfered with construction. SEPTA has countered that it sought to remedy serious safety concerns.
The bonding company "has yet to make their decision," Moore said. "We just have to wait."
Citing the lawsuit, PKF Mark III president Peter Getchell declined comment yesterday.
Meanwhile, Moore announced plans to close Market Street and detour up to 150,000 El riders onto buses for parts of the spring and summer.
Beginning May 31, SEPTA will close the 56th Street station until late November. Shuttle buses will transport riders from Upper Darby's 69th Street Terminal to the 40th Street station when the El shuts down on weekends in June.
The buses will also run for two nine-day shutdowns in July and August and serve riders who use the 56th Street Station.
West Philadelphia neighbors should brace themselves for dust, noise, traffic, and around-the-clock construction activity in the narrow, densely populated Market Street corridor, SEPTA officials warned at a news conference yesterday.
The shutdown will bring giant cranes and a hive of workers who will rebuild stations, cut down and remove the old El, and erect a sleek, single-column structure in its place.
"It will be noise, lights and dirt, 24 [hours a day] seven [days a week]," Moore said. "This is one of the largest construction projects in SEPTA's history."
SEPTA community affairs specialists will be in the neighborhood to give out information and help residents cope, said Frances Jones, the SEPTA official in charge of community affairs.
Telling neighbors now of El shutdowns to come, she said, "allows people to make decisions. They can go and stay with a friend... or take a vacation."
Despite the delays, a new El and the replacement of stations from 46th Street to Millbourne is still on track for SEPTA's original 2008 completion date, Moore said.
Work this year will stretch between 56th and 61st Streets. El trains will still operate from 52d Street to the eastern end of the line at the Frankford Terminal in Northeast Philadelphia, she said.