Maryland transit officials are preparing to manage Purple Line construction if a public-private partnership on the $2 billion project dissolves amid feuds over hundreds of millions in cost overruns, according to a letter sent Wednesday to the project’s subcontractors.
The letter to 171 companies involved in designing and building the light-rail line said the state “intends to exercise its step-in rights” to take over managing their contracts if no deal on the cost overruns is reached with the private consortium now managing the project. That would keep construction going “pending resolution of the parties’ disputes” while the state “pursues its rights and remedies” against the consortium, the letter said.
In another sign that the 36-year partnership is at increasing risk of crumbling, the consortium recently said its construction contractor has started buttoning up construction sites in preparation for quitting over the unpaid expenses. A metal grate can be seen covering an enormous hole where a Purple Line elevator shaft was being blasted and built in downtown Bethesda.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Katherine Shaver over at The Washington Post
