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Post by metrocenter on Feb 15, 2019 17:42:51 GMT -8
Per the Construction Status report for February 2019, this Regional Connector is now 55% complete (overall progress). Very little change from the 54.8% status previously reported, for December. The February report says the project is “proceeding on schedule and within budget.” |
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Post by numble on Feb 15, 2019 18:16:31 GMT -8
Per the Construction Status report for February 2019, this Regional Connector is now 55% complete (overall progress). Very little change from the 54.8% status previously reported, for December. The February report says the project is “proceeding on schedule and within budget.” Glass half-full: I have found that the percentages reported on the construction status presentations often are just rounded and pulled from the latest official project status report. So it seems they pulled it from the December reports. That’s also probably why the cost contingency figures in the report are also as of December 2018. So the project right now is probably better than 55%. Glass half-empty: It might just be at 55.5% instead of 55%... |
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Post by numble on Feb 21, 2019 15:51:01 GMT -8
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Post by metrocenter on Feb 22, 2019 7:26:27 GMT -8
The January 2019 status report is out for Regional Connector. Either the numbers are wrong, or they recalculated the progress—there is no change from the 54.8% overall progress reported for Dec. 2018. The completion date is now delayed 5 months from Nov. 2021 to April 2022 and testing also expected to take longer than originally scheduled. Son of a biscuit! In fairness, what slipped by five months was Metro’s forecast of completion. The contract delivery date has been 4/2022 for a long time, but as of December the Metro forecast for completion was five months ahead of that. As of this report, Metro’s optimism in its forecast has vanished. I cant believe we’re still looking at three-plus more years of construction. |
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Post by bzcat on Feb 22, 2019 11:30:58 GMT -8
Let's just hope the 4/2022 date will not slip.
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Post by Philip on Feb 22, 2019 16:22:30 GMT -8
Eight years of work for three underground stations.
If the Regional Connector doesn't pick up, the Purple Line to La Cienega may open faster.
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Post by metrocenter on Mar 19, 2019 9:18:16 GMT -8
According to the latest major project status report (for March 2019), the overall progress for the Regional Connector is now 56% complete. This status may be slightly old, because sometimes reports include numbers from up to two months previous. So take it with a grain of salt. (Broken link was updated.) |
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Post by metrocenter on Mar 19, 2019 9:40:31 GMT -8
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Post by culvercitylocke on Mar 25, 2019 16:19:29 GMT -8
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Post by culvercitylocke on Apr 4, 2019 10:35:03 GMT -8
Here's the metro Regional Connector video. I"d been wondering what SEM stood for.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Apr 7, 2019 13:56:21 GMT -8
Richard Clarke's update at the last Construction Committee meeting (video online) mentioned that the existing opening date to the public is April 2022, but that things are moving fast and that they think that date will move earlier. Sounded like significantly earlier as in at least several months.
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Post by metrocenter on Apr 12, 2019 8:09:18 GMT -8
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Post by jahanes on Apr 12, 2019 16:23:11 GMT -8
I think your link might be broken
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Post by metrocenter on Apr 17, 2019 10:00:28 GMT -8
I think your link might be broken It should be back up now. (Metro must have been doing something with their server when we checked that link before.) |
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Post by metrocenter on Apr 17, 2019 10:25:21 GMT -8
Here is the latest (April 2019 major project status report). The Regional Connector is still at 56% complete, unchanged from March's report. This makes me question Richard Clarke's claim that they are "moving fast": Richard Clarke's update at the last Construction Committee meeting (video online) mentioned that the existing opening date to the public is April 2022, but that things are moving fast and that they think that date will move earlier. Sounded like significantly earlier as in at least several months. |
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Post by numble on Apr 25, 2019 20:28:08 GMT -8
The March 2019 status report was released today, and the progress graph shows actual progress now slightly dipping below the planned progress.
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Post by numble on May 12, 2019 19:17:51 GMT -8
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Post by metrocenter on May 13, 2019 14:43:07 GMT -8
The details re: damage to the Times building: |
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Post by metrocenter on May 14, 2019 15:12:55 GMT -8
Major Project Status Report for May is out. Regional Connector is now listed as 57% complete (overall progress). The project is still listed as "on schedule" and "on budget".
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Post by metrocenter on May 29, 2019 13:42:04 GMT -8
Another article about the new four-month delay. The current estimate for "completion" is April 2022. (I believe they are referring to the start of revenue operations, rather than end of construction. One can only hope.) The article echoes the earlier LA Times article, which said that the problem is a labor shortage and rising construction costs (presumably made worse by steel tariffs). (I plan to use this all the time when it opens. But I'm getting tired of waiting.)
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Post by bzcat on May 29, 2019 14:33:34 GMT -8
I'm not convinced on the labor shortage explanation. Why is labor shortage seem to only affect Regional Connector and not Crenshaw or Purple Line?
My interpretation is really that the contractor underestimated the amount of labor hours required for station excavation and construction. Therefore, they have a "shortage" of labor and must apply for fee escalation that eat into contingencies.
Purple line contractors are not reporting any labor shortages and since the two projects are only 4 miles apart, they are in the same labor market... meaning that they are both facing the same labor market condition.
This is the real deadline... In my opinion, the contractor knows they can stall and extract contract changes from Metro as long as they open the line by Feb 2023.
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Post by culvercitylocke on May 29, 2019 15:19:11 GMT -8
I think it’s actually more white collar shortages than worker labor shortages, meaning having schedulers who know how many men and material it takes to install x electrical in y days per z feet, and how to balance out all the tasks and everything and supervise the site supervisors etc.
I think they have plenty of union labor available but are having problems the layer and second layer above that labor.
Recall the same thing happened to expo phase two, Skanska transferred upper personnel from the nearly finished expo to the just beginning purple line phase one, and the progress rapidly deteriorated from months ahead of schedule to barely finishing on schedule.
If I were to guess I’d say that Skanska has been shifting personnel to purple as it is now a project with three simultaneous station excavations, an extraction pit excavation and ongoing tunnel mining. They’ve probably put everyone on purple because it is the premier project, but their inability to staff fully all bids they have won probably contributed somewhat to losing the phase 2-3 contracts to tutor perini.
Not to mention purple phase two and three could very well have been sniping experienced personnel from the regional connector for their project.
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Post by numble on May 29, 2019 16:25:56 GMT -8
I think it’s actually more white collar shortages than worker labor shortages, meaning having schedulers who know how many men and material it takes to install x electrical in y days per z feet, and how to balance out all the tasks and everything and supervise the site supervisors etc. I think they have plenty of union labor available but are having problems the layer and second layer above that labor. Recall the same thing happened to expo phase two, Skanska transferred upper personnel from the nearly finished expo to the just beginning purple line phase one, and the progress rapidly deteriorated from months ahead of schedule to barely finishing on schedule. If I were to guess I’d say that Skanska has been shifting personnel to purple as it is now a project with three simultaneous station excavations, an extraction pit excavation and ongoing tunnel mining. They’ve probably put everyone on purple because it is the premier project, but their inability to staff fully all bids they have won probably contributed somewhat to losing the phase 2-3 contracts to tutor perini. Not to mention purple phase two and three could very well have been sniping experienced personnel from the regional connector for their project. Tutor Perini’s CEO, Ron Tutor also mentioned in an earnings call that Skanska has been reducing in size, though I don’t know if he is only referring to New York or across the US: seekingalpha.com/article/4245039-tutor-perini-corporations-tpc-ceo-ronald-tutor-q4-2018-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single |
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Post by numble on May 31, 2019 8:27:18 GMT -8
The April 2019 status report for the Regional Connector is out, and the Metro forecast for completion is 01/26/2022, 42 days earlier than the March forecast of 03/09/2022.
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 3, 2019 8:27:37 GMT -8
At some point, the contractor will need to break through the panels at the north end of 7th/Metro, to connect the new tunnel to the existing one. I wonder if they will be taking advantage of the "New Blue" closure of the LRT platforms at 7th/Metro, from mid-June through August.
According to the April status report, the "South Flower Cut & Cover Tunnel Excavation" is scheduled to be completed by September.
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Post by transitfan on Jun 4, 2019 7:29:34 GMT -8
At some point, the contractor will need to break through the panels at the north end of 7th/Metro, to connect the new tunnel to the existing one. I wonder if they will be taking advantage of the "New Blue" closure of the LRT platforms at 7th/Metro, from mid-June through August. According to the April status report, the "South Flower Cut & Cover Tunnel Excavation" is scheduled to be completed by September. That would make sense, so knowing MTA, it won't happen  |
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Post by numble on Jun 5, 2019 8:36:57 GMT -8
Metro staff responded to the LA Times article in a report to the board:
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 5, 2019 11:03:06 GMT -8
^^ They say they are on target to complete the project sometime later than December 2021, and sometime before or at April 2022. Then there will be five more months to bring the connector into full revenue service. So now we are looking at as late as September 2022 to open the Regional Connector. If... there are no more project delays.   <rant> When 7th/Metro station first opened in 1991, signs above the northbound track announced "Pasadena". The lights on those signs were not on, but clearly the LACTC (now Metro) was being optimistic. They expected to have the corridor through Downtown LA open in the near future. I was 18 years old at the time. I'm now 47, and the corridor is still not a reality. (By the time this opens I'll be 50!) </rant> |
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 17, 2019 13:59:51 GMT -8
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Post by numble on Jun 29, 2019 9:02:47 GMT -8
May 2019 project status report:
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