Larchmont Station Renovation On-Hold
May Not Start Until 2004

( December 10, 2002 ) There is nothing going on at the Larchmont Train Station: no construction, no renovations to the station house and overpass. Planned to start this month, the much-anticipated project is on-hold because Metro-North has received no acceptable bids from contractors who would do the work. (See: Everything You Wanted to Know About the Larchmont Train Station)

“There has been a delay,” announced Mayor Ken Bialo at the December 9 Village Board meeting where he described Metro-North’s problems with the bidding process. “There’s a possibility that the work might be delayed for as long as a year, that is, through 2003 and into 2004.” He went on to say, “They put a lot of work into this. I’m sure they’re all disappointed; we’re disappointed, as well.”

“It’s very disappointing,” echoed Town of Mamaroneck Supervisor Valerie O’Keeffe who was informed of the delay by the Larchmont Gazette. “I will be in touch with Mayor Bialo and the people at Metro-North to see what can be done.”

Metro-North spokesman Dan Bruckner confirmed the delay and the emotion. “We definitely understand what the word disappointment means. We feel it ourselves,” he pointed out.

The request for bids originally went out in August and four contractors returned bids by the deadline in early October. All four bids were much too high, related Bruckner. “There is a finite, limited budget. As a public agency, we cannot have a project performed at costs that are significantly out of line with what is reasonable and logical.”

So what now? The project team is looking at ways to economize without curtailing the end result. For example, insurance costs were originally considered part of the contractors’ expenses. Metro-North is investigating the possibility of self-insuring at a lower cost.

Another possibility is moving more of the construction work into off-peak, daylight hours when workers are paid regular wages. The complex work of getting large equipment under the train system’s overhead wires calls for turning off the electricity and shutting down train service. To minimize service disruptions, construction was originally scheduled at night with a large work force needing to be paid over-time. Now Metro-North is looking to fit the shutdowns into low-traffic times of the regular workday.

Coming up with cost savings and developing new bid packages will take some time – a couple of months or more, according to Metro-North estimates. Timing is an issue, particularly since there is a federal grant underwriting some of the costs. According to Mayor Bialo, Metro-North is "painfully aware that the grant money has to be spent within the time allotment given by the Congress of the United States."

However, said Bruckner, “We feel comfortable that the federal funds are secured for this project, even though the time frame has been extended.” The project team is continuing to meet, even this week, to iron out details of the rebidding process.

Supervisor O’Keeffe remains hopeful that changes in the economy and advertising bids at a different time of the year will yield better responses in a second round of bidding. “I’m not overly pessimistic,” she declared, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

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