The Research Triangle Regional Public Transportation Authority, known as GoTriangle, has selected the Gannett Fleming/WSP Joint Venture as construction management consultant for Durham and Orange counties’ light-rail project.
The 17.7-mile light -rail system will have 18 stations between UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill and North Carolina Central University in Durham. The line includes over 10 miles of at-grade ballasted track, approximately 4 miles on an elevated structure, and approximately 3.5 miles of at-grade embedded track, Gannett Fleming said in a statement.
The project, which is planned to provide 26,000 trips per day, will connect three major universities, three medical facilities, and three of North Carolina’s top 10 employers—UNC Health Care, UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University. Between 2018 and 2057, the project potentially could add $3.2 billion in property values and $1.4 billion in tax revenue, according to projections by GoTriangle.
The Gannett Fleming/WSP joint venture will provide a wide range of services, including constructability reviews, estimating, contract packaging, design, and specification reviews during phase one, and full construction management services during phase two.
“We are proud to be part of a team that’s implementing much-needed rail transit in the Triangle Region because it will transform mobility in the community,” Bryan Mulqueen, a Gannett Fleming executive vice-president and Durham-Orange Light Rail contract project manager, said in a statement. “Future generations will look back and ask ‘How did we ever live without this?”