The company hired to construct the route for OC’s first electric streetcar is suing the Orange County Transportation Authority, raising the possibility the already delayed project could be held up even longer.
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month in Orange County Superior Court, attorneys representing Walsh Construction Company said the transit agency that contracted them to complete the project breached the agreement governing the scope of work, citing numerous alleged failings on OCTA’s part including neglecting to pay the company more for, or extending deadlines to accommodate, added work on the project.
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The company hired to construct the route for Orange County’s first electric streetcar is suing OCTA, raising questions about whether the already delayed project will be held up even longer. Work on the track takes place in Santa Ana on Monday, March 14, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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The company hired to construct the route for Orange County’s first electric streetcar is suing OCTA, raising questions about whether the already delayed project will be held up even longer. Work on the track takes place in Santa Ana on Monday, March 14, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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The company hired to construct the route for Orange County’s first electric streetcar is suing OCTA, raising questions about whether the already delayed project will be held up even longer. A worker is reflected in a store window in Santa Ana on Monday, March 14, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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The company hired to construct the route for Orange County’s first electric streetcar is suing OCTA, raising questions about whether the already delayed project will be held up even longer. A worker drills neat the track in Santa Ana on Monday, March 14, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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The company hired to construct the route for Orange County’s first electric streetcar is suing OCTA, raising questions about whether the already delayed project will be held up even longer. Work takes place in Santa Ana on Monday, March 14, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Walsh Construction is asking for at least $50 million in damages as a result of the alleged contract violations. But the company is also asking the court whether its workers can halt their work on the project until the OCTA provides it finalized plans for the streetcar and “agrees to pay Walsh for the changed project scope and time for performance.”
The company’s representatives want a judge to declare that Walsh isn’t obligated to keep working under the current agreement.
The OC Streetcar will be able to carry up to 210 people at any given time, connecting Santa Ana’s train station to Garden Grove along a four-mile track with 10 stops. The electric cabs, propelled by wires connecting above them, will link riders to other transit hubs such as Amtrak, Metrolink and OC Bus stations.
Construction on the project kicked off in late 2018. Officials initially eyed a completion date in 2021, but unexpected issues including the discovery of human remains and contaminated soil beneath the streets of Santa Ana resulted in delays and added costs, OCTA officials have said. The project, which now has a price tag of $509 million, is expected to be finished in 2024.
A spokesman for the transportation authority declined to comment on the lawsuit brought by Walsh Construction or say whether agency officials were concerned that construction could be halted as a result, but in an email he said that “our goal is deliver OC Streetcar on our current timeline of March 2024 for the residents and business of Santa Ana and Garden Grove, and for the benefit of all Orange County.”
Attorneys for Walsh Construction could not be reached for comment. Walsh is the primary contractor for the construction of the streetcar’s tracks, platforms and maintenance and storage facility.
The construction company says in its lawsuit the OCTA didn’t provide finished or adequate plans and specifications for the project, and failed to grant time extensions or negotiate a new agreement in light of changes. The $50 million or more being sought by Walsh is the cost the company will rack up “if it continues to follow OCTA’s direction,” the suit says, adding that “OCTA’s current course of action directing changed work without paying for it, and without granting time extensions for Walsh to complete the changed work, is oppressive and contrary to the contract and law.”
The lawsuit was filed at the tail end of a six-month window during which Walsh Construction was allowed to take court action following OCTA’s rejection of two claims submitted by company in June 2020.
Among other allegations laid out in the lawsuit, is that OCTA also failed to coordinate with surrounding landowners and authorities governing areas impacted by the project before awarding Walsh Construction the contract. At least two companies that operate near the streetcar route’s construction are suing Walsh over impacts from the work, which they said hurt business.
Two auto body shop businesses that run out of a facility on Westminster Avenue in Santa Ana filed a lawsuit last month, saying dust, dirt and debris from construction on the project damaged body work on vehicles, leading to a loss of business and forcing them to vacate the property in 2021 when their lease was up.
The businesses are seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
The streetcar project is more than halfway complete, and work is ongoing at this time, OCTA spokesman Joel Zlotnik said. Agency officials have said previously that the vehicles, which are being constructed in northern California, are expected to be delivered to Orange County late this year or early 2023.
“What we can say is that OCTA is committed to completing the OC Streetcar project,” Zlotnik said.
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