Key Piece of Miami Airport Intermodal Project Finally Moves
After three years of delay, design is under way on a key component of one of the nation’s largest airport intermodal construction projects. But costs have risen, and Miami-Dade County must incorporate a $30-million cost increase into what could be a $342-million price tag for an automated people-mover system to link the airport with an intermodal center and consolidated car rental facility.
The Miami-Dade Aviation Dept. last year rejected three design-build-operate-maintain bids, submitted in 2005, for noncompliance and nonresponsiveness. After negotiations, one of the bidders, a joint venture of Parsons Corp., Pasadena, Calif., and Odebrecht-USA, Coral Gables, Fla., got the notice to proceed under a three-year $259-million design-build contract in October. Construction of foundations is slated to begin in February, says Franklin Stirrup, Parsons project manager.