Seattle, home to the most infamously bungled infrastructure projects in the country (the Bertha-blocked tunnel), has managed to do something rare for any city: complete a transit extension on-time and under-budget.
"Not only does Sound Transit expect its major light rail extension to be more than $100 million under budget, it also says the project will be finished by March — six months ahead of schedule," according to an article by Eric Mandel.
The new extension will connect Husky Stadium with the neighborhood of Capitol Hill. Mandel provides the following vital statistics for the big extension:
The projected $1.9 billion project is supposed to add 71,000 riders to the system by 2030, bringing the system-wide total to 114,000. The project was funded through sales tax, Motor Vehicle Excise tax and federal grants. The extension is expected to create an eight-minute ride from UW to downtown and under an hour from the stadium to Sea-Tac.
Sound Transit spokesperson Bruce Gray is quoted in the article crediting risk management for the project's success in construction.
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