"Silicon Valley transit officials are moving forward with plans to dig a single tunnel and close their BART extension funding woes. The strategy is steeped with risk. After a fallout with the main contractor and scathing rebukes from BART officials, the VTA board of directors voted 8-1-3 to lock in on a new set of design, construction and delivery choices to help close a $700 million funding gap and trigger the full release of federal dollars promised for the extension."
"The plan rejects side-by-side train tunnels, as well as concurrent tunneling from opposite directions, in favor of lower costs. It's unclear whether all federal dollars will come through, by the time VTA starts to dig a 5-mile tunnel through Santa Clara and San Jose in 2029. The biggest uncertainty, meanwhile, lies in the tunnel boring machine itself. After VTA struggled to agree on construction terms and parted ways with main builder Kiewit-Shea-Traylor, risk of falling behind now rests solely on VTA."
"An independent panel of outside transit agencies has warned the machine's underperformance could derail the project, which aims to run trains by 2037. The newly-approved plan bumps the machine's progress from 29 feet to 35 feet per day and six days a week instead of five. But only a handful of contractors worldwide have the skill to handle the tunnel borer - 53 feet in diameter - that will dig through a difficult mix of urban rock and soil."
The VTA board voted 8-1-3 to adopt a single-tunnel design and new delivery choices aimed at closing a $700 million funding gap and unlocking federal dollars for the BART extension. Several board members voiced doubts and some city leaders left or abstained, while one voted no. The plan rejects side-by-side tunnels and opposite-direction concurrent tunneling to reduce costs and targets a 2029 start for a five-mile tunnel through Santa Clara and San Jose. The principal risk centers on a 53-foot tunnel-boring machine, limited contractor expertise, and potential underperformance that could delay trains until the 2037 target.
Read at San Jose Spotlight
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