The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission is considering a change in how it handles price adjustments for transportation projects.
The Transportation Resources Oversight Committee agreed to follow the same process for local projects as the Indiana Department of Transportation does for state projects.
NIRPC Transportation Projects Manager Charles Bradsky said federal officials said it makes sense to use INDOT’s rules for state projects for consistency. Committee members decided further consistency means adopting the same policy for local projects, too.
The recommended changes define what’s considered a minor change and what’s a major change in cost.
For projects under $2 million, any cost change up to 75% would be an administrative modification, assuming the money is available in the project’s budget. For projects of $2 million to just under $15 million, the threshold is 50% of the cost. For $15 million to $75 million, the percentage change would be 40%. The state sets the threshold at 30% for projects costing more than $75 million, but no local projects are likely to cost that much for the foreseeable future.
Currently, the formal amendment process is required for any construction or transit project cost change over $100,000.
With this change, a speedier administrative modification would be used for smaller changes, a process that takes about a month, Bradsky said. Amending the Transportation Improvement Plan can take six weeks or more, bouncing around various state and federal agencies and requiring public comment.
Director of Transportation Tom Vander Woude said huge cost changes likely would also include changing the scope of the project, which automatically triggers the amendment process and the resultant bureaucratic reviews.
The aim of the proposed changes is to minimize delays for transportation projects.
The proposal now goes before the Transportation Committee and the full commission before it can become incorporated into the Transportation Improvement Plan and related documents.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
