Sound Transit may miss spring goal for paving project on MLK Jr. Way

Sound Transit is at risk of missing its May 2007 goal to finish paving Seattle's Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, which is being rebuilt to make room for light rail.

Even if the agency meets that schedule, it would be a year later than contractors originally planned.

Transit officials pledged this week to pick up the pace. The longer the disruption lasts, the higher the odds that blocked or torn-up streets will cause businesses to fold.

"They've been very frustrated, rightfully so," said Joni Earl, chief executive officer for Sound Transit.

To finish by May, workers must pour 1,000 feet of concrete a week, and two lanes wide. Currently, their pace is less than three-quarters that rate, with winter rains approaching.

The lead contractor on the 4-mile segment, RCI-Herzog, has hired more paving workers and is recruiting a firm from Spokane because of labor shortages here, said Tony Raben, a Sound Transit construction manager.

RCI-Herzog, which began street construction in July 2004, originally planned to be done by now. At the start of the year, Sound Transit said paving would be nearly complete by year's end, but that slipped to spring. During the summer, a four-week concrete-plant strike disrupted the project's momentum.

"They should have been prepared post-strike to hit it, blitz it. There was not a sense of urgency. With the bad weather coming up, I think they may have missed an opportunity," said Jaime Garcia, executive director of the Rainier Valley Community Development Fund. The fund has boosted its relief payments to small businesses from a $30,000 limit to $50,000, to cope with delays.

Transit-board members Thursday moved an additional $7.5 million into the MLK project, which already has gone through $18.3 million in contingency money.

The new total for MLK is $154.5 million, including extra utility and street work to benefit nearby homes.

Despite problems on MLK, light-rail director Ahmad Fazel said the overall 14-mile, $2.44 billion line from downtown to Tukwila is projected to open on time in 2009 at about $138 million under budget, which he said he would consider a tremendous accomplishment.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com