Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) just settled a dispute with contractors over pedestrian bridges at the West Dublin-Pleasanton station. BART disagreed with its contractors about its responsibility for the bridge costs, but its offer proved satisfactory—ending what could have been a long court battle that would have delayed the station’s opening.
The bridges span Interstate 580 and provide a pedestrian connection to the station, located in the freeway’s median. Though the bridges were delivered in 2008, state transportation officials said they had the wrong welds and had to be rebuilt (SJ Mercury News). This is where the fight began, as BART and its contractors each disputed its responsibility for the costs.
The station was set to open in 2009 but was set back to 2011 because of this dispute. Even worse, the conflict added $20 million in costs to the project’s final $80 million price tag (AP).
Just another reminder that facilitated negotiation may prove enormously beneficial in moving onward and upward.
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