Montgomery County Approves $3.1M For Silver Spring Transit Center Fight

SILVER SPRING, MD — Montgomery County approved millions more for the legal fight over the $140 million Silver Spring Transit Center, which was plagued with structural flaws and delays.

The council approved another $3.1 million for the center Tuesday, according to WTOP, bumping up the cost of the center to more than $12 million for Montgomery County taxpayers.

The county previously reached a settlement in the fight over cost overruns in May. On May 30, it was reported that the county will receive $25 million from contractors after construction was delayed due to cracks in the concrete structure of the transit center. The county argued that the contractors were negligent, and that the center was unsafe because of the structural problems and faulty designs.

The county was originally asking for up to $47 million to cover the structural flaws, plus $20 million in damages. The settlement will pay for the remediation costs to strengthen the concrete and steel beams at the center.

The transit center opened in September 2015, four years behind schedule. The lawsuit was filed by the county in August 2015.

According to Bethesda Magazine, the development company that was the center's general contractor, Foulger-Pratt, denied any liability related to the construction problems.

Foulger-Pratt blamed designer Parsons Brinckerhoff, saying the designs were faulty and incomplete. They also said delays from the county made it impossible to finish the transit center in a timely manner, The Washington Post reports.

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett said he was "reasonably pleased" with the settlement and thinks it will be a "good outcome" for taxpayers.

See the WTOP post here.

Photo: Elvert Barnes/Flickr