Markeshia Ricks Photos
Asked how long the State Street Bridge has been closed, Mezcal Restaurante Mexicano’s gregarious owner, Ricardo Trejo, rolled his eyes and sighed. “I’ve lost track of time,” he said.
It’s not hard to do. What was supposed to be a one-year project completed in 2010 has dragged on for four years and counting, almost half the time that Mezcal has been in business. And it’s not over.
At a city hearing last week, officials announced that the project may now end up costing as much as $30 million. The original pricetag was $5 million. And the city’s setting aside another $200,000 to try to get the project over the finish line.
State Department of Transportation (DOT) spokesman Judd Everhart Monday said the current total project cost estimate has reached $28.5 million. He said the contractor’s anticipated opening is June 4, 2015. (The DOT has this website up for people to monitor the project’s progress.) Vladislav Kaminsky, the DOT supervisor engineer on the project, said he anticipates the road opening in next May, and then the entire job being completed by September.
The DOT has this website up for people to monitor the project’s progress.
“I can’t believe it,” Trejo (pictured at the top of the story) said upon hearing the latest news. “Why has it cost so much?”
The bridge project was plagued with problems from the start. Contaminated groundwater and a new 42-inch water main were a couple of the most significant issues that had to be addressed before construction could happen, further pushing out the date for completion of the project. The state accused the city of screwing up original plans, including failing to account for a 170-year-old pipe; the city accused the state of messing up the job. The DOT’s previous point person for the project, Brian Mercure, has called it “probably the worst project, with this type of impact and delays, that I’ve ever seen” in 30 years; since then he has been put on leave while he faces criminal charges of allegedly impersonating the DOT commissioner. Read more about the State Street Bridge’s step-by-step setbacks and explanations for the beleaguered bridge project, as well as the neighborhood impact, here. Click here, here, here, here, and here to trace to the saga over the years.
Trejo said he’s lucky; his restaurant has a following, so he has survived the bridge closing, unlike some neighboring businesses. But he also doesn’t know how much more business he might have from the other side of the bridge if it were open.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Trejo said of the May 2015 opening, with a chuckle.
Another City Half‑G
The Board of Alders Finance Committee last week approved a request from City Engineer Giovanni Zinn to increase a cap on design fees for shop drawings, construction administration and support service from $200,000 to $700,000.
The state and federal government are on the hook for the cost of construction, but the city is responsible for covering the costs associated with the bridge’s design. Because of the problems that have haunted the project, the city has had to continue paying support costs.
Zinn said the city has been operating on “on call” agreements to pay design fees above the cap that was authorized by the board in 2010. He asked the board to raise the cap because design fees and support have now exceeded $515,000. With the bridge now slated for a May 2015 opening, Zinn said, he doesn’t believe spending will reach the new cap.
Committee Chair Hill Alder Andrea Jackson said she found the request “extremely confusing.”
“They’re going to fix the bridge; it just may not be done in this life time,” translated Board President Jorge Perez.
Zinn said for a project like the State Street Bridge it is not uncommon for support services fees to be about 10 percent of the construction costs. East Rock Alder Jessica Holmes tweaked Zinn’s nose a bit by pointing out that the project is now nearly five times over its original cost: “Saying that is a little disingenuous.”
Holmes, who recently had the opportunity to celebrate the groundbreaking for the State Street Lofts a stone’s throw from the bridge, said she feels the problems of the bridge “acutely … because they have gone on so long.” Though she’s not happy the bridge might cost the city any more money, she said she supports the raised cap because she didn’t want to do anything that might further delay the project.
The committee approved the request contingent upon Zinn providing documentation of where the funds for the design fees come from and if it comes out of a fund for fixing bridges, whether those funds are being taken from a funded bridge project.
Zinn said the bridge is going to be done, and done correctly. “We’ll all be long gone the next time there is a problem with that bridge.”
Consequences For A Screw-Up?
Thomas MacMillan File Photo
The neighborhood’s state representative, Roland Lemar, said he’d like to see government called to account for the boondoggle—after the project’s finished.
“Right now I want the focus to be get this bridge up and done as soon as possible,” said Lemar (pictured at a community meeting about the bridge). “When this is done, we should open this up and see what went wrong.”
For starters, once the repairs are completed, the state should give money to the State Street merchants’ group so it can market the news that the bridge is back open, Lemar said. He also suggested investing state money in a Mill River walking trail in the area of the bridge. He said he might support the idea of after-the-fact hearings.
DOT did respond to problems that arose along the way, Lemar said.
“Some good happened. Contractors have been changed and pushed out in the course of this project. Originally there was infighting between the state, everybody pointing fingers at everyone; finally we convened everyone together and said, ‘Knock it off. We’re all in this together.’ Both screwed up.”
Still, Lemar observed, “Everything that could go wrong, did. This has just been a disaster.”
Paul Bass contributed reporting.