Changes increased costs and delayed opening of Willmar Avenue ‘quiet zone’ railroad crossing

WILLMAR - Several delays and design modifications required by Kandiyohi County and BNSF Railway doubled the construction period and increased the cost of the new Willmar Avenue Southwest railroad quiet zone crossing.
Despite the delays, the crossing is functioning properly and the total cost will be $66,425 below the final budget figure for the project, including accounting for the additional engineering fees expected to be approved Tuesday.
It was a long process, explained Jared Voge, principal engineer with Bolton & Menk of Willmar. Bolton & Menk was hired by the city in early 2013 to provide project management, design and bidding services.
“Thankfully, the crossing is in and the gate arms are up and it’s functioning,’’ Voge said.
He discussed the project, along with a request from Bolton & Menk for additional engineering fees resulting from delays and modifications, at the Willmar City Council’s Public Works/Safety Committee meeting Feb. 10.
The city realigned Willmar Avenue at the crossing to allow drivers to more easily see if trains are approaching and to improve access to the industrial park.
As a quiet zone, the train horns do not sound and the gate arms and medians prevent vehicles from driving through the crossing when a train is approaching.
When the engineering services contract between the city and Bolton & Menk was developed, the city estimated the project cost at $675,000. However, the county and the railroad required modifications be made to the scope of the project, which increased the project cost, according to City Public Works Director/City Engineer Sean Christensen.
When construction bids were opened, the low bid from Duininck Inc. of Prinsburg came in at $1,068,195, or $393,195 above the original estimate.
Voge said that throughout the design process, Bolton & Menk worked with BNSF to finalize the railroad agreement for the crossing. He said this process took many months. After the agreement was finalized, the railroad was to install the new crossing surface and gates in the fall of 2013.
However, BNSF did not construct the improvements until spring of 2014. The delays caused by BNSF’s schedule for the crossing improvements were significant, according to Voge.
The contract price increased to $1,076,046 after a change order was approved for additional work required due to the BNSF delays.
Those delays also required additional time spent on project management to coordinate contractor schedules and additional time spent on construction observation to coordinate contractor activities in the field, Voge explained.
Construction began in June 2013 and was substantially complete in October 2014.
As a result of the extra time spent on the project through the 16-month construction period, Bolton & Menk was requesting an increase of $15,000 in its engineering agreement with the city, bringing the total to $130,000.
Committee members voted to approve the increase. The vote is a recommendation that will be considered by the council on Tuesday.
Voge said the delay was not specific to the city of Willmar. He said BNSF operates at its own schedule and Voge said the same situation has happened in numerous communities throughout the state.
According to Voge, Kandiyohi County contributed $360,000 toward the project because Willmar Avenue is part of the county’s state-aid highway system. Counties receive money from the state to assist in the construction, improvement, and maintenance of those highways designated as part of the state-aid system.
Committee member Andrew Plowman asked if any financial recourse is possible from BNSF.
Voge said the topic “comes up a lot’’ and he said Willmar was not the first council to ask that question. He said maintaining a positive relationship with BNSF was important because the railroad ultimately controls the schedule and there’s not a lot of recourse.
“When communities are working with them, I’m not saying they (BNSF) play favorites,’’ he said. “But they definitely remember conversations that are had with them. I’ve seen it at work in other communities.’’
Although there were delays with BNSF, “we were able to successfully avoid requests for additional compensation from the contractor as a result of those delays through the city’s working relationship with them, our working relationship with them and the common goal of providing a good project,’’ Voge said. “There were delays. But certainly it could have been far more significant from a cost perspective.’’