Connecticut has all the ingredients to be successful from an economic development perspective. But that is only if we aggressively invest in additional transit-oriented development projects including buses, railroads and potentially high-speed railroads between New York City and Hartford.
These large scale projects will not only require new funding sources, but will also require visionary leadership from both the executive and legislative branches. Most importantly, the agency that will help carry them out, the state Department of Transportation, must be an effective organization, be organized and operate in a manner that enables it to successfully implement the plans. Unfortunately, that’s not the case now. The DOT remains a weak organization due to the departure of an experienced cadre of managers and engineers over the last few years, the I-84 fiasco and corruption scandals.
We have yet to see the “first shovel in the ground” for many projects where a complete design package has been prepared, but can’t go to construction for one reason or another. The 2007 construction season ends in just another three and a half months. The average annual construction cost index is hovering around 10-12 percent and there is a serious dearth of labor supply unlike anything we’ve experienced in the past 20 years. Many private sector employers are having major difficulty in recruiting all levels of engineers, including entry-level, and many positions remain vacant both in the private industry and public entities. This is a national trend in our industry. DOT certainly is not at an advantage in this condition to attract the best and the brightest unless the existing salary structure is radically revised.
Since the beginning of the interstate construction, DOT has been using Design-Bid-Build method of delivery. In this project delivery method, the planning and design through final project construction process could take years for even simple and mundane projects. This method is increasingly showing its limitations.
A competing project delivery system called Design-Build (D-B) is gaining ground throughout the United States and many public agencies are adopting it as an alternate mode. The D-B project delivery method allows the design-builder to perform both design and construction under one single contract.
Time is money in construction. A project just delayed six months will add significant cost automatically. For the construction industry these are unconventional times and from public policy perspective they shall require unconventional solutions such as looking into this method, many DOT’s are already working with this as well as the traditional method side-by-side, and are successful in expediting construction.
What To Do
In order to get projects moving aggressively, we must start with the DOT. Reorganize the DOT fast. The manager/engineers have historically played a crucial role in the past, and therefore, their importance in executing these programs cannot be diminished. More training, coaching and mentoring, and creating an atmosphere of trust and acceptance between the commissioner’s staff and managers, particularly up-and-coming managers, is needed. Many of these folks are highly capable, despite being a part and parcel of an entrenched bureaucracy of the so-called “highway culture.” They should be motivated and retrained with the mission of building transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly, environment and context-sensitive projects balancing with new highway construction. If executed properly and in time, this will usher in true intermodalism in transportation which will give a competitive advantage to Connecticut regionally.
State procurement statutes should be amended to include Design-Build.
Finding The Money
As state and federal funding is not adequate to both maintain existing transportation inventory and construct new, transit-oriented structures, Public-Private Partnerships can also be a viable method of funding large scale projects. PPPs are contractual agreements between a public agency, which is typically asset-rich but resource-poor, and a private-sector entity. These agreements expand the traditional private-sector role in the delivery of transportation projects.
The new DOT leadership must work with its managers to provide direction, motivation and energy to the organization, while also introducing D-B and PPPs and operating the transportation department like a business.
DOT must create a stable of general contractors interested and willing to work with the state.
Early-completion bonus provisions should be instituted in large, complex and time-critical projects, to reward good contractors. Bad contractors should be quickly weeded out without intimidation or threats of legal action.
Networking opportunities should be created to improve communication and exchange ideas and information among DOT, contractors, consultants, legislators, business leaders and other transportation stakeholders.
Abul Islam, PE is President/CEO of AI Engineers, Inc., a consulting firm based in Middletown. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association.
