Raleigh is once again trying to find contractors to build North Carolina’s first bus rapid transit line. This time the city is trying a different strategy, one that will further delay the project.
Last year, the city twice sought bids from construction companies to build the New Bern Avenue BRT line , which will run 5.4 miles between downtown and a planned park-and-ride lot off New Hope Road. The first time, no one bid . The second attempt yielded one bid that was more than $41 million higher than the city’s estimates and was rejected.
Now the city has begun to put the project out to bid again, but in stages. The first step is to find someone to do the paving, sidewalk and utility work along New Bern Avenue and Wilmington, Blount, Edenton streets between downtown and Poole Road. Bids are due June 20.
By year’s end, the city will put out two more bid packages, the first for the section between Poole Road and Interstate 440, and the second for I-440 out to New Hope Road. That last contract would also include construction of stations and platforms along the entire route…