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St. Louis Metro recently terminated its contracts with consortium Cross County Collaborative (CCC), which has been providing design and management services for the agency’s eight-mile Cross County MetroLink light-rail extension since May 2000.

Metro now will conduct project management in-house. If CCC had completed the work, the project schedule and budget could have been affected, Metro officials believe.

In October 2003, Metro declared the CCC in default of the contract for the Cross County design work, and in June, Metro declared the CCC in default of the contract for Cross County construction management.

"The CCC had multiple opportunities to remedy their unacceptable performance under their contracts," said Larry Salci, Metro president and chief executive officer in a prepared statement. "The termination is necessary in order to protect the taxpayers’ investment in the Cross County extension."

The agency will appoint a team of 16 engineers, inspectors and other project control staff to supplement existing project personnel. Metro also has appointed a new consulting engineering design firm — the Metro Construction Group — which primarily comprises Metro employees. The team will manage other St. Louis-based contractors already working on the project. Those contractors will not be affected by the transition, according to a prepared statement.

In addition, Metro will hire a program management oversight consultant to give independent technical advice on the project’s schedule, budget and organization.

The $550 million project includes building nine new stations, redesigning one station, constructing two park and rides, and purchasing 22 additional light-rail vehicles. Metro still plans to begin service on the extension in 2006.