Despite cost dispute, agency approves $9 million Chinatown station plaza change order

San Francisco transit officials approved a routine change order to the Central Subway Project that will enable construction of a public plaza at the Chinatown Rose Pak station.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Board of Directors approved an approximate $9.3 million contract modification to construct the public plaza, which will sit above the station.

Wyman Lee, the SFMTA’s resident engineer for the Chinatown station portion of the project, said crews began plaza work in September.

While the contract may seem routine, a staff report highlights a disagreement between the transit agency and the project’s main contractor, Tutor Perini. The report elaborates on the lack of consensus regarding the overall cost of the work performed by Tutor Perini.

The report said subcontractors have been allocated $5.1 million to perform portions of the plaza project, while Tutor Perini will complete the remainder of the work.

SFMTA officials estimate the cost of Tutor Perini’s activities to add up to $4.2 million for the plaza work. However, the contractor expects the work to run nearly $7 million.

The difference stems from labor hours that vary widely between the contractor and SFMTA calculations. Of course, the board approved the cost derived from its own estimate.

According to the oversight committee, additional claims could increase the final Tutor Perini contract cost for the entire Central Subway Project by as much as $53.4 million. Their contract is currently approaching $900 million. 

Interim SFMTA Director of Transportation Tom Maguire said he intends to firm up the estimated completion cost and will form a basis of negotiating with Tutor Perini.

Maguire said:

“Once and for all, we’ll know how much more we’ll need to finish the job, but that will also give us an opportunity to agree to that bilaterally with Tutor.”

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.