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Looks like the $1.2 billion Sky Train pork project at Sky Harbor is on it's way to being a $1.6 billion pork project.
The silly and wasteful pork project will give air line passengers free rides from Sky Harbor Airport to the $2 billion Phoenix light rail pork project. Of course the rides are not "free" but every air traveler that passes thru Sky Harbor Airport is shaken down for $4.50 extortion fee to pay for the project. I suspect you could take a cab for less then that price. And since less then a third the people who fly thru Sky Harbor will used the allegedly "free" service the cost per ride will probably be at least $13.50 per person and probably a lot more. PHX Sky Train faces cost hike amid testing by Emily Gersema - Jul. 2, 2012 12:00 AM The Republic | azcentral.com The unmanned, automated train at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport made its first pass over the airport's 100-foot-high taxiway bridge Friday as part of the airport's testing phase for the PHX Sky Train. Canada-based Bombardier Inc. began testing the trains this spring. Testing will continue into early next year, when the PHX Sky Train is expected to be ready for its first passengers. Even then, the train project will not be finished, and likely not at its original price of $1.2 billion. Now in its sixth year, the PHX Sky Train is being constructed in stages, largely because the Phoenix Aviation Department does not yet have the full funding arranged for the project. Department plans envision that the train will carry travelers nearly 5 miles from a platform near 44th and Washington streets to the East Economy Lot; to terminals 4, 3 and 2; and then to the Rental Car Center at 24th Street and Buckeye Road. [I suspect the 5 mile length is also a lie intented to make the project sound bigger and greater the it is. I suspect 5 miles is the round trip length between terminals 2, 3, and 4 and the light rail connection on 44th Street & Washington. The one way trip passengers will take is closer to 2 and a half miles max!] City records show costs are expected to reach $1.6 billion by the time the project is completed, but a newsletter from the U.S. Department of Transportation shows the cost of the PHX Sky Train could top $2.3 billion -- nearly double what it was initially expected to cost when officials were planning the project more than six years ago. "I think originally the cost was going to be $1.2 billion," Assistant Aviation Director Tamie Fisher recalled in an interview earlier this year with The Arizona Republic. "But that was predicted in 2006, and the project's not worth the same in 2012 as it was in 2006." No tax dollars are being used, she said. [That is a lie!!! The $4.50 fee is a TAX that airline passengers will be jailed if they refuse to pay.] The bulk of the financing for the train comes from a special $4.50 fee charged on every plane ticket, known as a passenger-facility charge. Phoenix officials have said the cost of a project such as the PHX Sky Train is difficult to pin down because it is unique and complex, requiring hundreds of workers and tons of concrete, steel, cable and wiring. Wylie Bearup, Phoenix's Street Transportation Department director, told The Republic that the city, in unique projects of this magnitude, prefers to hire a construction manager to help keep down costs, monitor the project and oversee the development. Hiring the construction manager is a better move, he said, than calling upon contractors to submit their lowest bids -- a tack it usually takes on small projects worth a few thousand dollars. Working with a construction manager, the city was able to come up with a projected cost -- $1.2 billion -- which is a ceiling that the project must stay under. [Another lie! If the project must stay under $1.2 billion how come it's going to cost $1.6 billion????] The ceiling can change, though. Every year, the City Council is asked to approve a five-year capital-improvement plan that details construction, repair and renovation projects for every department. The annual revised plan reflects expected changes in project costs, including reductions and increases. City officials said the increases in the PHX Sky Train's projected costs better reflect the rising costs of labor and materials the city expects to pay when it has the money to build the remainder of the project -- from Terminal 3 to the Rental Car Center. Bearup said hiring Hensel Phelps Construction Co., based in Greeley, Colo., to manage the project was a wise move. He said that if the city had simply sought the cheapest bidder on this project, the city likely would have found itself in a position of having to frequently approve new and unexpected costs that arise throughout the project's development. He said that would leave the city at risk of overpaying for work and materials. Under a typical construction-manager-at-risk approach, the project is controlled within the budgeted ceiling for the project, which the City Council approves as part of the capital-improvement budget. The budget is updated annually to reflect changes in costs and the city's priorities for new construction and renovations. So, with council approval, the ceiling can be raised on a project, allotting for projected changes in construction costs. The ceiling also can be dropped in certain cases, such as if the city decides to reduce the size of a project. Heather Lissner, a spokeswoman for the Aviation Department, said construction on the first phase, from 44th Street to the East Economy Lot and on to Terminal 4, is largely complete. "Final touches on flooring, paint, signage, etc. are currently under way," she said. Crews also have begun working on the next phase, which will link passengers from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3, where they'll be able to hop onto a moving walkway to reach Terminal 2. Lissner said crews have started working on the columns between terminals 3 and 4 that will support the extension of the train. |