Tag: DDI

Contractor Pulls Out Of 54 Widening Project

One month after being kicked off the Diverging Diamond Interchange project at S.R. 56 and I-75, D.A.B. Constructors has informed the Florida Department of Transportation it is voluntarily defaulting on the S.R. 54 widening project as well.

On July 28, “FDOT received letters from DAB informing us that they are financially unable to perform or complete the performance of the work as prime contractor, which constitutes a voluntary default…,” FDOT spokesperson Kris Carson wrote in an email.

But it isn’t just the S.R. 54 widening project, which was supposed to be completed by the end of the year, that D.A.B. Constructors is walking away from. There are five other projects in Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties:

C.R. 580 Sam Allen Rd. from S.R. 39 to Park Rd.
US 19 Widening from Green Acres to W. Jump Ct
US 19 Widening from W. Jump Court to W. Fort Island Trail
US 19 Resurfacing from Hernando County Line to Green Acres
SR 52 Widening from Suncoast Parkway to US 41

“FDOT will be working with the Surety Companies to take over and complete the projects,” Carson says.

D.A.B. Contractors issued a statement, signed by president Doborah Bachschmidt and executive vice president Bill Bachschmidt, earlier this week, published in the Citrus County Chronicle, saying that “After over 33 years as a small heavy civil construction firm based in Inglis, Florida, D.A.B. is winding down all operations and putting the completion of ongoing projects in the hands of our bonding companies.”

D.A.B. essentially says the DDI project led to it pulling out of its other projects due to financial strain.

FDOT’s actions in regards to D.A.B. being behind schedule on the DDI which was made public last fall, were a “deathblow” to the company. D.A.B. says it accelerated construction without payment from FDOT to meet milestone dates.

“When D.A.B. achieved the milestones to the extent feasible under the FDOT-furnished defective plans”, the company wrote, “FDOT moved the goalposts. We suffered a classic domino-effect, as our acceleration efforts had diverted resources from other ongoing projects and drained the company of millions of dollars such that operations cannot be sustained.”

It wrote it has been in a 15-month tug-of-war with FDOT due to errors in the design.

“Despite the existence of a significant errors in the project design provided by FDOT and the recommendation of an independent Disputes Review Board that upheld D.A.B.’s contentions regarding the existence of the design errors and the resulting impact to the project schedule and costs to complete, FDOT has declared D.A.B. in default.”

Last month, in a letter dated June 25, D.A.B. Constructors told FDOT they were “demobilizing” from the DDI project, two days before it was defaulted on the project by FDOT.

D.A.B., which says it is the only remaining woman-owned prime contractor in the state, says it cannot continue to self-finance FDOT projects while it waits on the outcome of court action.

Carson says D.A.B. Constructors filed a lawsuit against FDOT on July 1.

“We very much regret the inevitable inconveniences to the traveling public as D.A.B.’s ongoing jobs are transitioned to others for completion,” the Bachschmidts wrote.” We are working cooperatively with our sureties to expedite take over and completion work. Likewise, despite what we’ve encountered with FDOT, we intend to continue to cooperate with the department.”

That is disappointing news for Wesley Chapel residents, who just a few months ago were expecting the DDI and 54 widening to be completed before 2022. That now appears unlikely.

The 54 widening is a $42.5-million project to transform S.R. 54 from two to four lanes east of Curley Rd to east of Morris Bridge Rd., a 4.5-mile stretch. A sidewalk will be built on the north side of the road and a 10-foot wide multi-use trail will be built on the south side.

54 DDI fdot

FDOT Making Tweaks To Help Ease Logjam at I-75/56

If you’ve been by the construction site of the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) at the junction of I-75 and S.R. 56, you may have noticed a difference from past trips.

More machines. More workers. More dirt being moved.

Just over a month after Pasco County commissioners, particularly District 2 Commissioner Mike Moore (whose district includes much of Wesley Chapel), criticized the efforts of D.A.B. Constructors, Inc. — and expressed disappointment that the project would not finish on time — the work has clearly picked up in the area.

“There has been significant improvement,” Moore says. “I want to thank D.A.B. and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for getting this back on schedule.”

Moore said he met with both D.A.B. and FDOT, and as a result, he is feeling more confident that the project will finish closer to its original finishing date of sometime in the fall of 2021, as opposed to fears construction would stretch well into 2022.

“I feel good about what I heard,” Moore said.

The $33-million project also had drawn the ire of more than 20 local businesses, who signed a letter to Moore and District 3 Commissioner Kathryn Starkey expressing concern about the progress.

Community outreach manager John McShaffrey says FDOT has continued to look for opportunities to move the project forward, “including working with the contractor on alternate materials, construction phasing, and other ways to shorten the construction duration.”

With traffic thicker than usual due to the holidays, there aren’t too many things FDOT can do to ease congestion right now, although it is suggesting alternate routes to get in and out of the Tampa Premium Outlets and Cypress Creek Town Center areas. FDOT also has made efforts to assist in traffic flow since before Thanksgiving by:

* Adding message boards on S.R. 56 westbound advising drivers to use the next two signals (the entrance off S.R. 56 and the entrance off the Wesley Chapel Blvd. extension) to enter the outlet mall.

* Adding message boards on S.R. 54 eastbound advising that drivers can turn right where Wesley Chapel Blvd. meets S.R. 56 to enter the outlet mall.

* Setting traffic signals to “holiday timing” (a common practice near mall areas) to maximize traffic flow.

* Adding message boards on southbound I-75, north of the S.R. 54 Exit 279, to encourage traffic to use the S.R. 54 exit to avoid backups on the Exit 275 ramp to S.R. 56.

* Adjusting the setup of the barrier wall on the southbound I-75 exit ramp to give a little more space for drivers turning right (westbound) onto SR 56.

* Installing additional cameras for FDOT’s traffic management staff to better monitor traffic at all of the signalized intersections.

DDI fdot

Diverging Diamond Delay

Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) chairman Mike Moore has always taken great pride in his efforts to expedite the construction of the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) at the busy junction of I-75 and S.R. 56.

With help from state legislators, what was originally scheduled for a 2024 completion was moved up and expected to be finished by the fall of 2021.

However, that date is now very much in question, which has riled Moore, who represents District 2, which includes most of Wesley Chapel.

“It’s very, very disappointing,” he says.

Armed with letters from constituents and his own daily experience driving through the congestion at the under-construction interchange, Moore is disappointed to hear that the project — originally expected to cost $18.5 million but now carrying a $33-million price tag — could now drag on until the spring of 2022 or even later.

Which is why, when Moore drives by the project now and sees workers, well, not working, it makes him seethe.

His frustration was on full display at a BCC meeting last month, when Moore delivered a blistering attack on the company, D.A.B. Constructors, Inc., in charge of the project.

Moore said he recently drove through the interchange and took pictures of the general malaise happening. He said he saw two workers standing next to a truck doing nothing, and a second group of construction workers standing on a hill.

“On a project of that magnitude, those are the only people I saw working on a Monday, a sunny Monday, at 1:30 in the afternoon,” Moore said. “I think that’s insane, that’s ridiculous, that’s embarrassing.”

More than 100,000 vehicles pass through the interchange on a daily basis. The eagerly-anticipated DDI is designed to create fewer conflict points at the interchange, and despite looking like a confusing, diamond-shaped jumble of roads in pictures, Florida’s first Diverging Diamond Interchange (at Exit 210 of I-75, in Sarasota) has been lauded for being safer and more efficient than your traditional junctions.

Businesses Are Unhappy, Too

The Wesley Chapel DDI will be Florida’s second, and Moore isn’t the only one disappointed that it is so far behind schedule.

In September, the Cypress Creek Town Center Property Owners Association (POA) — which includes the Tampa Premium Outlets, Costco and more than 20 other businesses located west of the interchange, sent a letter to Moore and District 3 Commissioner Kathryn Starkey expressing concern about the progress of the interchange.

The POA, which said it has spent $25 million over the last 15 years “reconstructing and widening miles

of highway in the State Road 54/56 corridor” to offset the additional traffic the Town Center attracts, said it reached out to the Florida Department of Transportation when it was becoming clear that the project was falling behind schedule.

It asked FDOT to accelerate the DDI during Covid-19, due to the reduction of traffic, but were told material deliveries had hindered the project and that D.A.B. Constructors “did not feel any substantial gains could be made.”

The POA wrote to Moore and Starkey that they were told the project was at least 200 days behind schedule — pushing the completion date to late summer of 2022.

“It’s very unfortunate that this is happening,” said Comm. Starkey, “but at least FDOT is doing as much as they can to push it along.”

Pasco County has no control over state road projects like the DDI, but Moore and Starkey both reached out to David Gwynn, the FDOT secretary for District 7, after receiving the letter from that group of angry businesses.

FDOT has taken efforts to remedy the situation, and could impose more penalties. Gwynn wrote back to Moore telling him if D.A.B. Constructors can’t meet the contracted end date, “liquidated damages, of $9,837 a day, will be assessed for every day that the contractor is late in completing the project.”

That means that for every month they are behind schedule, D.A.B. Constructors would incur a $300,000 fine.

Pasco’s BCC chair Mike Moore says D.A.B. Constructors “can’t handle it” when it comes to finishing the diverging diamond project on time.

The DDI construction kicked off in early 2019, and had an original schedule of 800 days, resulting in a finish date of April 2021. That did account for delays due to rain and holidays (though not for something like Covid-19, which did cause delays for materials for many area projects).

Gwynn wrote that in roughly 20 months, D.A.B. Constructors had been granted 99 days for weather, 34 days of holiday time and 30 days for unforeseen conditions. All told, that added 163 days to the contract, changing the end date to August 26, 2021.

“Ninety-nine rain days? I don’t how that is, but okay, I guess?,” Moore said. “I guess if it sprinkles outside they don’t work?”

Moore also found 34 days off for holidays “extreme.”

Moore wants to see FDOT come down hard on D.A.B. Constructors, including fines and heavy pressure. He went as far as to suggest D.A.B. “sub out every little piece of the project going forward…cut their losses, and get out.”

He doesn’t want the company used on any more projects in Pasco County, where it is currently working on 10 other projects, including the widening of State Roads 54 and 52.

“They have so many projects going on right now they can’t handle it,” Moore says.

Starkey worried that any further delays could impact the traffic for yet another holiday season in 2021, further hurting businesses in the S.R. 56 corridor.

DDI diverging diamond interchange Wesley Chapel

Transportation Efforts Taking Shape

David Gwynn, FDOT District 7 secretary, says improvements are on the way.

Although traffic and congestion are part of daily life for those driving around Wesley Chapel and New Tampa, getting out of the area is only the beginning of what can be a long and teeth-gnashing chore for area commuters.

For folks heading to work in Tampa or St. Petersburg, once the Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd./S.R. 56/S.R. 54 maze is completed, it’s onto the local interstates, which offer their own headaches.

But, there are efforts now ongoing to change that.

David Gwynn, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District 7 secretary of transportation, who spoke at the June 2 North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Pasco Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch, provided some promising updates about a host of road improvements FDOT currently is working on or has planned that will have an effect on traffic faced by Wesley Chapel drivers.

“We’ve got some big projects going on,” Gwynn said, adding that one of the biggest challenges at the moment is finding enough contractors to do all the work at reasonable prices, due to a bustling economy.

“We’re probably taxing the construction industry,” he said. “That’s probably the thing we worry about the most.”

Locally, Gwynn said the roadwork that will impact travel around Wesley Chapel is the work on east-west roads like S.R. 56 (which is being extended), S.R. 54 (which is being widened) and S.R. 52 (which is being extended).

“There’s a lot of demand to go east-west,” Gwynn told the Chamber members. “Right now, getting from US 301 to I-75 isn’t that easy. These will provide new corridors to connect it and will probably provide the biggest benefit of all.”

Gwynn also said that the diverging diamond interchange (DDI) at the S.R. 56 exit of I-75 and the planned (and finally funded) Overpass Rd. interchange between the S.R. 54 and S.R. 52 exits will ease traffic immeasurably.

Outside Of The Area, But…

Notably for local commuters heading to work, improvements are coming to two major Tampa trouble spots — the north- and southbound exit lanes at I-4 and I-75 and the stretch of I-275 from Bearss Ave. to the 275/I-4 interchange, better known as “malfunction junction.”

While the I-75 project is well under way — in fact, the northbound ramp from I-4 to I-75 already has been completed — the enhancements on I-275 are still only in the planning stages, but cleared a major hurdle on June 11, when, after a five-hour debate, the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) voted 11-5 to keep the project in its 5-year transportation plan.

The leading proposal to fix the congestion problem is to transform I-275 from three lanes in each direction between Bearss Ave. (and the interchange at I-4) to four lanes while “hardening” the shoulder for emergency vehicles and buses. The project also would include enhancements at malfunction junction.

The I-275 proposal continues to draw strong opposition from many Seminole Heights and Ybor City residents, who favor a no-build alternative and an emphasis on mass transit solutions.

However, the Tampa Bay Partnership, a privately-funded business-driven advocacy group dedicated to solving Tampa Bay’s most pressing challenges, commissioned a survey in mid-May of 400 Hillsborough County residents, and the results showed that 84 percent (with a reported margin of error of only 5 percent) of those surveyed were in favor of widening I-275.

Traffic congestion (43 percent) and meeting the future growth needs of the area (34 percent) were the primary reasons given for the support.

And, while opponents prefer a number of different transit options, the Tampa Bay Partnership survey showed that 79 percent of those polled believe that a balance of transit and interstate improvement options is the best way to create a better transportation system.

The I-275 project already has $80-million allocated for it, and that money would have been lost if the vote had gone the other way. Funding still needs to be secured for the full cost of the project, which is $400 million total, before it can proceed.

Pasco’s Board of County Commissioners wrote a letter, signed by all five commissioners, to Hillsborough MPO chairman Les Miller voicing support prior to the vote, stating that, “Adding these general use lanes is an important priority to help the flow of people and commerce throughout our region.”

The letter from the Pasco BOC also stated that not moving forward with the I-275 plan would hurt the proposed Bus Rapid Transit project that would connect Wesley Chapel to Tampa and St. Petersburg.

Both the I-275 and I-75 projects could substantially improve drive times for Wesley Chapel and New Tampa residents who work in south Tampa or even St. Pete — or for anyone trying to get to Tampa International Airport.

The biggest current FDOT project, by far, is replacing the existing Howard Frankland Bridge, which alone will cost $800 million. For those who work in St. Petersburg, the drive back to Pasco takes more than an hour at rush hour, and a lot of that time is often spent in that seemingly-never-moving traffic on that bridge.

Another project that would speed the commute along I-275 is one being proposed to fix the Westshore Blvd. interchange, which Gwynn says is FDOT’s No. 1 unfunded priority. A public workshop was recently held, with a public hearing scheduled for January of 2020.

Southbound I-75 will have a longer ramp to I-4 soon. (Photo: Aerial Innovations, Inc.)

The I-75 southbound interchange improvement at I-4 (see picture, top right) is well under way and will help relieve a bottleneck all too familiar to Wesley Chapel and New Tampa residents who make the drive to Tampa or Orlando.

The project is relocating the exit point to I-4 roughly one mile to the north, which will create a 1.25-mile-long, two-lane ramp separated from the mainline travel lanes by a guardrail. The new two-lane ramp will split at the current ramp location, with lanes going east and west onto I-4.

Drivers will no longer be able to dive into the current exit lane off southbound I-75 onto I-4 at the last second, eliminating that decision point.

Work on the northbound entrance to I-75 was completed last year, joining the two ramps into one two-lane ramp that is separated from the mainline travel lanes until merging into a single lane and entering I-75 on a new, long auxiliary lane, according to the FDOT website. That project cost $18.4 million.

“To be honest, there is never enough money to solve all the issues out there, so we try to hit the critical ones first,” Gwynn told the Chamber members at the breakfast. “We’re never going to catch up or make it congestion-free, but we try to do our best to provide enough corridors that hopefully it won’t be horrible.”

DDI fdot i-275 I-4

S.R. 56 Interchange To Begin Building In January

In what could be considered an early Christmas gift to local holiday shoppers, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) decided to hold off on beginning construction of the diverging diamond interchange (DDI) planned for the intersection of S.R. 56 and I-75.

Construction of the three-year, nearly $40-million project was originally supposed to kick off in November.

“In my opinion, it was a good idea,” said Ryan Forrestel of American Consulting Engineers (ACE), the design project manager for the project. ACE holds the patent on the diverging diamond design.

Although he adds that he wasn’t involved in the decision to delay the project, “it was a good idea to avoid the holiday.”

The delay may have saved shoppers this month, but in January, the project will begin in earnest and drivers can expect to begin experiencing slowdowns, Forrestel said.

The DDI was originally slated to begin in 2024 before getting moved up, so the delay is minor by comparison.

With its crossover pattern, switching traffic lanes and timed lights, the DDI is expected to ease congestion at the busy intersection, which is near the Tampa Premium Outlets and a dozen or so restaurants, while also serving as primary gateway for those heading to, or home from, Tampa.

DDIs are growing in popularity nationwide, and last year one opened to great reviews in Sarasota, the first DDI in Florida.

There are also plans to build one at the I-75 and MLK Blvd. interchange in Tampa.

DDI