Purple Line Transit Constructors wants out of Maryland LRT project

May 4, 2020

The team cites unreimbursed costs and severe delays with its decision to leave the project.

Rebar is laid in September 2019 as support for the Purple Line light-rail project. The team responsible for the project's construction, Purple Line Transit Constructors has decided to pull out of the project.

Maryland’s 16-mile Purple Line project has hit another significant challenge: The team tasked with building it intends to exit the light-rail project.

The relationship between the MDOT/MTA, the Purple Line Concessionaire and the project's construction and operation partners.

Purple Line Transit Constructors (PLTC), which consists of Fluor, The Lane Construction Corporation and Traylor Bros., Inc., and was responsible for the design-build portion of the project, will exit the project in approximately 60-90 days. While PLTC will not be part of the project, it did state its intent to work with Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP), the lead contracting and finance consortium for the project, and the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) to ensure an orderly transition.

“PLTC still firmly believes in the goals and mission of the Purple Line Project and the important benefits it will deliver to Maryland,” said Scott Risley, PLTC project director. “Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside of PLTC’s control, there were multiple delays on the project and PLTC was unable to obtain the time and cost relief to which it is entitled from MDOT/MTA. Regretfully, PLTC simply cannot complete the project under these circumstances.”

PLTC explains the project experienced delays due to third-party lawsuits, delayed right-of-way acquisition and changes to regulations and third-party agreements after the project was underway. PLTC’s design-build agreement contains an exit clause should total delays reach 365 days.

PLTC says it has spent nearly three years negotiating with MDOT/MTA in the hopes of continuing its participation in the project, but those negotiations have not led to a resolution that would allow PLTC to complete the project.

“PLTC entered into the project in good faith and was committed to bringing the Purple Line Project to Maryland communities,” Risley said. “We did not make this decision lightly and did everything we could to work with MDOT/MTA to attempt to come to an agreeable framework for us to complete the project.”

The project offers a connection between the suburbs of Maryland and Washington, D.C. Once complete, it will provide a direct connection to the Metrorail Red, Green and Orange Lines at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park and New Carrollton. The Purple Line will also connect to MARC, Amtrak and local bus services.

PLTP reached financial close on the contract in July 2016 and broke ground in August 2017. Rail installation began last fall and according to a community advisory, the project is 28 percent complete

About the Author

Mischa Wanek-Libman | Editor in Chief

Mischa Wanek-Libman serves as editor in chief of Mass Transit magazine. She is responsible for developing and maintaining the magazine’s editorial direction and is based in the western suburbs of Chicago.

Wanek-Libman has spent more than 20 years covering transportation issues including construction projects and engineering challenges for various commuter railroads and transit agencies. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.

She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and serves as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.

She is a graduate of Drake University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication with a major in magazine journalism and a minor in business management.