(rshsdepot) Saratoga Springs, NY

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

CDTA to trim costs of train station plan

By PHILIP SCHWARTZ
Gazette Reporter

ALBANY - The latest round of changes to the construction and renovation of
the Saratoga Springs train station will mean $163,663 in savings to help
insure that the project is completed within a $5.9 million budget.
The Capital District Transportation Authority, which oversees the project
and the station itself, is expected to vote on the "value engineering change
orders" at its meeting today.

CDTA's Performance Oversight Committee recommended the measures at a meeting
Tuesday. When construction firms submitted bids for the Saratoga station
late last year, they were within budget. But the bids were higher than
expected and left little room for unanticipated costs, which forced CDTA's
contractors to find things to cut.

The changes in design, like on roof trusses and the heating system, are
mostly in areas out of public view, according to CDTA documents. The found
savings will also allow CDTA to restore features that had been previously
cut, such as a span of decorative granite which was supposed to adorn the
station's facade, said Kristina Younger, an official with the authority.

"We get to add in things like the granite that we reluctantly took out of
the original bid," she said.

With the change orders the board approved in April, these latest changes
restore the project's contingency budget to approximately $300,000, right
where the authority wants it in case certain facets of the project go over
budget.

The project is to be completed in November.

In other business, the committee recommended that CDTA's board purchase two
"low-floor" buses made by Michigan-based Overland Custom Coach. The buses,
designed specifically to provide easy access for the disabled, cost $136,000
each and would go into service in January.

The low-floor buses CDTA historically has used for its STAR (Special Transit
Available by Request) program are no longer being manufactured.

Reach Gazette reporter Philip Schwartz at 395-3111 or pjs0075_@_earthlink.net.


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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