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ITD makes jump to 99% on-time project delivery

While the quality of ITD's road and bridge projects are consistently recognized as some of the best in the nation, there is something else we can also take pride in — and it benefits both the department’s construction program and road users.

As of the end of September, 99% of our highway projects scheduled to begin construction in 2018 have been designed and are ready to bid. That’s 78 of the 79 projects scheduled to start construction next year.

“The Highway Leadership Team has made a huge impact on the delivery of the 2018 program,” said ITD Planning Services Manager Randy Gill. “The ownership they have taken and the leadership they have shown has truly made a difference.”

“The true stars are the hands-on project delivery teams in the districts that have shown commitment and dedication to improving the delivery goal,” Gill said. “It has been exciting to watch and to have Planning Services play a small part in this great success.”

This sets the stage for ITD to get these projects advertised and awarded by next spring, which will allow contractors to complete construction and drivers to begin using the improved facilities as soon as possible.

“Having these projects on the shelf, ready to go, gives us a better opportunity to plan work for our construction staff,” said District 3 Engineering Manager Jason Brinkman. ”It also gives the contracting community a better opportunity to plan their work with the opportunity for the best bid prices, and the users of the system are able to enjoy the improvements in a more timely manner — potentially an entire year sooner than our traditional delivery would provide.”

District 4 Design Construction Manager Todd Hubbard echoed that sentiment.

“There was a lot of effort put in by all staff to increase project-delivery. Having all the projects delivered will allow us to better plan the work to reduce conflict between adjacent projects, which will help the public get through our construction site easier. It will also allow our contracting community to plan the work better and provide a better bidding environment.”

Being good stewards of public money was also a common theme when discussing benefits of better project delivery.

“Meeting the delivery goals allows the district to have flexibility in getting the projects built sooner,” added Justin Wuest, District 1 Engineering Manager. “In our district, we are not only constructing our FY18 projects next year, but are also constructing the majority of our FY19 projects. It feels good to tell the public that we are spending money responsibly by getting projects built sooner, especially in times of a statewide funding shortage.”

ITD Chief Operations Officer Travis McGrath said that to make this kind of delivery the standard at ITD, the districts are adopting an early-start philosophy to accelerate schedules and get the work done well ahead of the due dates.

“In recent years our on-time completion rate for Plans, Specs, and Estimates (PS&E) had fallen quite a bit, resulting in significant delays getting some projects to construction and open for our customers.,” explained McGrath. “So the Highways Leadership Team (HILT) focused on improving this for FY18 projects, and our Design/Construct teams across the state really stepped up to deliver.”

Andrea Sheppard, Planning Manager for D5, added that also had an internal benefit.

“We are always trying to serve the traveling public, so delivering all the projects we did wasn’t anything new when it comes to benefiting the end user. The highlight from this year’s project delivery was the win for our internal staff. By the end of this year’s deadline, you could really feel the sense of teamwork and accomplishment it took to make it happen. Individuals grew in their skills and our district cultivated their cooperation, even across engineering groups.”