Transit Center Gets Budget Bump

As the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority’s new Blake Transit Center nears completion, the AAATA board has bumped the roughly $8.1 million construction budget upwards by $125,000 to cover costs associated with “extraordinary winter weather and unforeseen site conditions discovered during excavation,” which delayed completion of the project by six months. Of the additional amount, $55,000 is a contingency.

The money to cover the additional cost will be drawn from federal funds. According to the AAATA, the increase will not impact existing services.

The increase to the BTC construction budget was approved in AAATA board action taken at its May 15, 2014 meeting.

According to a staff memo in the board meeting information packet, the original project budget was $8,129,988, which included a contingency of 4.5% that’s considered to be a “lean” contingency amount.

The remaining work on the center consists of completing the snow-melt system, pouring concrete for driveways, finishing the canopy, structural steel, painting and finishing installation of the security cameras.

The lobby and the building were opened to the public on March 17. The concrete work is expected to be complete around June 10. A grand opening is tentatively scheduled for June 18.

When the board approved the project budget at its Oct. 18, 2012 meeting, the AAATA staff had reduced costs from $8.5 million down to around $8 million by removing a ticket vending machine ($125,000), real-time kiosk signage ($180,000) and LEED Gold certification ($80,000). The LEED certification was added back at the board meeting.

This brief was filed from the downtown location of the Ann Arbor District Library at 343 S. Fifth Ave., where the AAATA board holds its meetings.