Negotiations Ongoing for Costs Associated with Atlanta Streetcar Delays

MARTA and its contractor are negotiating terms over possible costs overruns associated with the Atlanta Streetcar project.

What those costs could be, officials won’t say. But the head of the $93 million streetcar project says utility line relocations took longer than expected. 

“It’s the oldest part of the city so a lot of this stuff isn’t exactly as well-documented as we wish it was,” said Rich Krisak, MARTA’s acting deputy general manager and the streetcar’s project manager.

Due to those utility issues, the project’s completion date has been pushed back 6-8 months to spring 2014.

Those delays have affected the work schedule of URS, the contractor in charge of construction.

Krisak says MARTA is in talks with URS over costs associated with delays.

“That is something we have to negotiate with URS. They’ve given us an idea. We’re evaluating that and auditing it, and then we’ll settle on a final number once we get through with that audit process.” 

While Krisak says it’s possible the project could still come in at budget, he said contingencies of about 12 percent are the norm for similar projects.

Twelve percent for the Atlanta Streetcar project would be about $11 million.