Downtown Links Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) Update and Upcoming Pre-Construction Activity

By

MEMORANDUM

To: Honorable Mayor Rothschild and City Council Members
From: Diana Alarcan, Director, Department of Transportation
Subject: Downtown Links CMAR Update and Upcoming Pre-Construction Activity

The Transportation Department has provided a Final Award Letter for the pre-construction phase services contract for the Downtown Links project. The selected Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) contractor is Downtown Links Constructors (DLC), a joint venture of Granite Construction and Borderland Construction. DLC was issued the Final Award Letter and is officially under contract as of July 25, 2019.

Execution of this contract has started the pre-construction phase services, which is anticipated to last up to 8 months. The project team is committed to shortening this phase as much as feasible so that construction can start as early in 2020 as possible. Cost savings will be a primary goal in order to provide for the goals of the project within the budget available. The Downtown Links project goals and key components continue to be:

  • Constructing a grade-separated railroad crossing on Sixth Street
  • Connecting Aviation Parkway to Interstate 10 to relieve Downtown traffic
  • Completing drainage improvements along the Arroyo Chico watershed
  • Maintaining or increasing bicycle and pedestrian connectivity with Downtown (Deck Plaza and Multi-Use Path)
  • Enabling the City to apply for a Quiet Zone

Potential scope changes remain the same as what was presented to the public in January 2019 (see attached presentation). If additional project cost-driven scope changes that affect the project goals and key components are deemed technically feasible through the pre-construction phase of the contract, these will be brought to the Mayor and Council and the public prior to incorporating them into the project construction.

During pre-constrnction phase services, the selected contractor and the project team will work together to:

  • Design ReviewNalue Engineering analysis
  • Constructability review
  • Project Schedule
  • Phased Construction and/or Long Lead-Time Procurement
  • Cost Estimation
  • Competitive Bidding & Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Utilization
  • Government Approvals and Permits
  • Preconstruction Documents

During pre-construction phase services, there will be visible activity along the Downtown Links project corridor as they prepare for the construction phase of the project. The contractor will be actively performing field investigations to support their constructability analysis or determination of construction means and methods. These activities will allow DLC to provide a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP), in which they take on potential risks associated with the project construction. Equipment, work crews, and short-term traffic control changes may be present as DLC analyzes the following:

  • Surface investigations
  • Subsurface investigations
  • Geotechnical investigations
  • Enviromnental investigations
  • Survey Verification

Stakeholders and the traveling public will be notified of changes in traffic control during the site investigations.

Finally, just prior to construction, the contractor will submit their final GMP for the construction and delivery of the Downtown Links project.

The anticipated construction start date will be in the first quarter of 2020 and the construction of the project is expected to take at least two years.