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Maryland transportation officials said Tuesday they will take over day-to-day management of building the Purple Line, at least temporarily, as soon as construction crews pack up and depart, a process that could come as early as next week.
They told the Prince George鈥檚 County Council there are firms eager to come in and guide the 16-mile rail project to completion, but they conceded that the demise of the state鈥檚 relationship with its original contractor, Purple Line Transit Partners, will lead to delays.
The prospect of the state taking responsibility for the project 鈥� which began as a highly-touted 鈥減ublic-private partnership鈥� but has since cratered amid nearly $800 million in cost overruns 鈥� led members of the council to express anger and skepticism about the Maryland Department of Transportation鈥檚 competence.
鈥淚鈥檓 heavily nauseated,鈥� said Council member Dannielle Glaros (D), whose district includes nine of the 11 stations to be built in Prince George鈥檚. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really tough for our residents, who so need the benefits, and they鈥檙e going to be left with this empty infrastructure that looks completely abandoned for a time frame that is not clear.鈥�
Maryland Transit Administrator Kevin Quinn told lawmakers the immediate priority is on making construction zones safe for the public when PLTP quits the project, a move made possible by the contractor鈥檚 court victory over the state earlier this month.
鈥淲e are evaluating every inch of the alignment over the next 30 days, taking a look at subcontractors, meeting with our subcontractors, to evaluate the work that can continue,鈥� said Quinn.
He said the Maryland Transit Administration is still 鈥渆valuating鈥� whether to keep the project in-house or hire a firm to take over for PLTP. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little too early to speculate and we鈥檙e looking at about a 4-to-6 month period to evaluate that. What I can say is there are a number of good contractors in this market who want to take on this work.鈥�
The departure of Purple Line Transit Partners also means the state must find a new way to finance the line, which will eventually link Bethesda and New Carrollton. The Department of Transportation鈥檚 CFO said the state could float new debt under the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan program or a new concessionaire could finance the project in the same manner as PLTP.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what we鈥檙e going to do, but that is absolutely on the table, another P3,鈥� said MTA project director Matt Pollack.
He said the agency is now scrambling to staff up, in case the state decides to manage finishing the Purple Line.
鈥淲e were managing a single P3 contract,鈥� Pollack said. 鈥淲e will be now managing well in excess of 100 contracts.鈥�
He said MTA鈥檚 project delivery team is 鈥渢aking actions to keep the Purple Line project moving forward.鈥� The primary task is identifying the work that can continue under state management, which he said includes design completion, utility relocation, wall construction and the acceptance of rail cars and other equipment being manufactured off-site by vendors.
Glaros called the demise of MTA鈥檚 relationship with PLTP 鈥渁 massive failure.鈥�
Council Chairman Todd Turner (D) said state leaders need to demonstrate 鈥渓eadership鈥� and make 鈥渟ome tough decisions.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e kind of floundering right now, and I think at the end of the day it鈥檚 going to cost us time and it鈥檚 going to cost us money,鈥� he said.
Quinn pledged that MDOT will complete the project.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 sit here and say there won鈥檛 be some stumbling blocks or even make promises that the state can have that same high level of activity that you see happening in the next few weeks or months,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I give you my commitment and the state鈥檚 commitment that we will deliver this project.鈥�
Implications for Beltway work
Turner and other members of the Council said the interruption of work on the Purple Line is causing officials to question the wisdom of using a public-private partnership to add lane capacity to the Capital Beltway, a top priority for Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R).
Officials involved in planning that project also briefed the Council on Tuesday 鈥� and lawmakers did little to hide their skepticism.
鈥淵ou can just see this is going to be a disaster,鈥� said Council member Thomas E. Dernoga (D). 鈥淚t reminds me of federal troops being sent to Portland even though they weren鈥檛 wanted.鈥�
Dernoga said the dramatic increase in the number of people working from home has undercut the rationale for Hogan鈥檚 proposal to add express toll lanes to Interstates 495 and 270, and he asked the top official in charge of the project for 2019 and 2020 traffic data from the two roads.
鈥淯nder current circumstances, the average speed is 70-to-80 miles an hour,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is rolling along at a fast clip and we don鈥檛 know what the post-COVID world really looks like.鈥�
P3 Project Manager Lisa B. Choplin said the new lanes are intended to accommodate population growth, not just the traffic Maryland has now.
She and other State Highway Administration officials expressed confidence that the future P3, to be awarded next year, will not end up like the Purple Line.
鈥淭he structure of this public-private partnership is different,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 what we call a predevelopment agreement and we are bringing on that developer earlier in the process.鈥�
Doing so, she told the Council, would give the winning bidder the opportunity to work with CSX, the state Department of the Environment, area utility companies and others to 鈥渕inimize and mitigate鈥� some of the right-of-way issues that caused delays which ended up torpedoing the rail project.
