The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) fired two senior managers in charge of construction on the Spadina subway extension in order to hire a new third-party manager to deliver the project at the end of 2017.
"After careful and lengthy consideration, I have determined that a change in leadership within the Engineering, Construction and Expansion group, including the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) project, is necessary," said TTC CEO Andy Byford in a memo that was leaked to the media.
"I don’t need to remind anyone of the importance of the TYSSE project to Toronto and the TTC. As CEO, I am ultimately accountable to our board and City Council for the on-time, on-budget delivery of this and all TTC projects."
In the memo dated March 19, Byford said TTC chief capital officer Sameh Ghaly and chief project manager Andy Bertolo were removed from their positions on the TYSSE project. A TTC report released on March 20 states the initial completion date at the end of 2016 and the budget are not achievable.
The report recommends a project "reset" involving a new third-party project manager be undertaken to deliver the project by Dec. 31, 2017 at an estimated budget increase of $150 million.
The TYSSE project is a an 8.6 km of subway line which will extend the existing system across the municipal boundary between the City of Toronto and The Regional Municipality of York.
Initially, the cost of the 6.2 km extension from Downsview Station to Pioneer Village Station in Toronto was estimated to be $1.5 billion. But, this was increased to $2.1 billion in 2006 when the extension was expanded 2.4 km from Pioneer Village Station to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station in York Region.
The current cost of the project is $2.6 billion, plus the budget increase of $150 million.
Toronto Mayor John Tory was furious about the cost escalation and delays on the project and has promised to make changes in the way the city operates.
"During the election campaign and since taking office, I’ve been clear about the need for much stronger culture of accountability at City Hall specifically in the management of major public infrastructure projects," said Tory in a statement. "From time to time that will and should mean personnel changes, as it would with any other organization."
The project cost increase of $150 million will be split between the City of Toronto ($90 million) and the Regional Municipality of York ($60 million).
Tory is supporting Byford’s efforts to restore public confidence in the management of the TYSSE project.
The report recommends a third party project management consultant should be hired to lead construction and complete the project by the end of 2017.
This option involves a significant addition of consultant staff to be deployed along with the existing project team.
This approach assumes a sole source contract pending negotiations to minimize the procurement time.
The estimated cost of this option would include one additional year of existing project management cost of $70 million and the cost of the third-party project manager of about $80 million to project completion.
The cost of $80 million includes significant incentives conditional upon meeting schedule and budget milestones and opening by the end of 2017.
Byford will submit the report and all four options to a TTC board meeting on March 26.
The American Public Transit Association (APTA) conducted a peer review of the project, which was presented in November 2014. The findings outlined a variety of concerns including a divergence in contractor and project schedules, delays in resolution of contract changes and needs to increase scheduling staff.
Next, Byford retained Bechtel to review the project. The report, which was presented in February 2015, included APTA’s findings. Both APTA and Bechtel reports conclude that a project opening date of the end of 2017 could be achieved if a project "reset" was implemented.
The reset requires the TTC to take the following actions:
— resolve of adversarial contractor relationships;
— incentivize contractors and obtain agreements for an end of 2017 opening date;
— develop a process / timeline to resolve outstanding claims;
— establish a collaborative environment to develop a common goal and improve.
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed