The first phase of the Dulles Rail project, which was six months behind schedule last August, is now just 11 days late and on target to be completed next year, officials said. That’s because managers and contractors were able to accelerate work on some parts of the $2.8 billion project, said Pat Nowakowski, the project manager.
The Silver Line’s massive concrete structures are rapidly advancing along Route 7 in Tysons Corner and beyond. The first phase of the line, which will extend from East Falls Church to Reston, is now expected to be completed by Aug. 15, 2013, and open for business in early 2014.
The Washington Examiner reported in October that contractors were 188 days behind schedule despite officials’ public claims that the project was “on time and on budget.”
Now, after months of negotiations, the contractors made up all but 11 of those days, and they are being counted as “weather days” — days on which contractors couldn’t help falling behind because of adverse weather conditions.
But the faster pace of the construction has a cost. Nowakowski said he’s still negotiating with contractors about who will pay for the increased speed and longer hours for workers.
And there could be risks for the project involved. The most recent progress report for the project notes that contractors are warning that stepping on the gas could mean “inefficiency and an increased risk in delivery.”
Nowakowski described those concerns as relatively minor.
“People could get in each other’s way, that kind of thing,” he said.
Nowakowski said he expects the project to come in on budget, though he warned at recent public meetings that it could go over budget by $150 million in a “worst-case scenario.”
Local leaders are watching the first phase of the project closely as they consider whether to make a final commitment to the second phase of the project, which would extend the rail line all the way to Loudoun County.
“There’s still a long way to go on the project. If they truly pull it in within [11] days, it will be impressive,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, R-Springfield.
Herrity said he suspected the project reports may be too rosy.
“It’s certainly a possibility that the ‘on time, on budget’ projections are to influence the decision on phase two,” he said. “Only time will tell.”
