Seven months after Raleigh held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first bus rapid transit line, the city is struggling to find someone to build it.
No companies responded to the city’s call for bids to build the 5.4-mile BRT line along New Bern Avenue. The project involves the construction of ten bus stations – with elevated, covered platforms – and would be worth tens of millions of dollars.
City officials had hoped construction would start in July. Instead, they’re looking at ways to adjust the way the project is presented a second time to entice contractors.
The first BRT line in NC
The New Bern Line will be the first bus rapid transit service in North Carolina. BRT combines the lower cost of a bus with some of the benefits of light rail, including ground-level boarding, prepaid tickets and dedicated lanes and priority at intersections that prevent the buses from getting stuck in traffic.
The city plans to eventually build four BRT lines running from downtown. The first, along New Bern Avenue, will connect downtown to a new park-and-ride area near New Hope Road.
The city advertised the project on March 5 and set a bid deadline of May 7. Several contractors showed interest by attending a meeting, viewing the plans online and asking questions, said Sam Brewer, the city’s engineering services project manager.
“We had people asking a lot of specific, formal questions that indicated to us that they were preparing bids,” Brewer said in an interview.
Contractors are careful
But in the end, the city received no offers. Contractors told city officials that the main reason they withheld was because they were not confident they could complete the work within two years as the contract would require, Brewer said.
“It’s a different kind of project; it is the first BRT project in the state,” he said. “So the contractor base here didn’t see that, so they approached it with caution.”
Another factor is that companies that build roads and public works are busy as state and federal governments pour money into infrastructure.
With so many projects to choose from, contractors can afford to leave some behind, especially if they’re concerned about having enough staff and equipment to get the job done.
City will try again soon
The city hopes to convince some contractors to submit bids when it advertises the BRT line again in about a month. It gives potential bidders more than two years to complete the work, although the exact time has not yet been determined, Brewer said.
Another possible change is to split the work, for example separating the bus stations from the paving. By breaking the project into smaller pieces, companies may be able to bid on what they are best at or what they currently have the capacity for, said David Eatman, the city’s public transportation manager.
“Sometimes that can bring in more bidders, but it can also cause headaches,” Eatman said in an interview. “Because then you have multiple contractors in one corridor trying to do things on their own timeline. So you just have to be careful.”
The city would give contractors six to eight weeks to respond to the next bid proposal. Normally it takes another two months before a contract is signed. Construction wouldn’t begin until sometime this fall, delaying the start of service until late 2026 or 2027, depending on the terms of the contract.
The city expects to spend about $97 million on the New Bern Avenue BRT line. That includes planning, the cost of priority and the purchase of special articulated buses with doors on both sides and lower floors to facilitate loading and unloading at the stations.
Work on the utilities continues
City officials would not reveal what they think the construction portion of the project will cost before it goes out to bid.
While construction of the BRT line has been suspended, utility companies have been working along New Bern Avenue to move their lines so they will be out of the way when contractors start work, Brewer said.
Brewer and Eatman say that based on conversations with contractors, they are confident that changing the project specifications will entice some to bid on it.
“We’ll get it done,” Eatman said. “This is our first and it will take some extra work, but I am confident we will be very successful.”
