By PAULENE POPARAD

The South Shore passenger service’s current wayside signal system was installed in 1928 with much of those same components still in use daily.

Friday, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District awarded a $60.2 million design/build contract to Divane Bros. of Franklin Park, Ill. to computerize the 75-mile signal system resulting in improved, bi-directional operating flexibility, automatic train tracking and better on-time performance.

The project was bid in three phases and NICTD reserves the right not to proceed with the latter two. The first, $31.5 million phase, which should begin within 120 days, includes signal upgrades from Kensington in Illinois to Gary and installation of fiber optic communication lines from Kensington to South Bend.

Passenger service will be maintained throughout the 18-month project, which includes new solid-state grade crossing controllers, automatic signals, event recorders, cab signal code generators, electronic coded track circuits and track switch machines and heaters.

Calling it an historic day for the railroad, vote to approve the bid award was 8-0. Members John Evans and William Carmichael of Porter County and Dr. George Smerk of Indiana University were absent.

Additional signal phasing, when authorized, would be from Gary to Michigan City and then to South Bend. South Shore chief electrical engineer Victor Babin said an extra fiber optic duct will be installed for future lease to generate income for NICTD.

The Divane bid was the lowest of four submitted, all above the $55.6 million engineer’s estimate. The highest bid was $71.8 million.

Said NICTD general manager Gerald Hanas, “It’s a costly project but one that’s necessary to provide first-class railroad service. Do we have all $60 million in place now? No. The bonds are the key to making this work.”

NICTD issued $10 million in bonds initially; additional bonds could be issued and additional federal appropriations will be sought. Timing will be critical to merge cash flow with grants to keep the next construction phases on track, Hanas told NICTD’s board of directors. “Hopefully, our goal is to be contiguous if the federal money can keep up with it.”

Later this year NICTD also expects to bid on the first phase of replacing its antiquated overhead catenary system that powers the trains.

NICTD board member St. Joseph County Councilman Mark Catanzarite asked what the life expectancy of the new signal technology will be. Babin said an estimated 30 years.

Babin said the completed signal system will allow dispatchers to switch trains between tracks by remote control from the new operations control center to be built in Michigan City. Currently, train crews manually move switches to change tracks. NICTD board member Dennis Burke, who represents South Shore employees, asked if any jobs would be lost in the upgrade. Babin said job descriptions may change but not employees.

The control center will permit train dispatchers to maintain proper separation between trains, detect broken rail and switch alignment, and convey route and train speed information. In double-track locations, the upgraded signals also will enable two, one-way tracks to become two, two-way tracks.

Building bid stalls

Action on a separate bid for the 81,000 square-foot operations control center that will house support offices and passenger communication functions in addition to computerized dispatching was deferred until a special meeting Feb. 13 at 9:30 a.m.

A lengthy discussion took place over the bidders’ ability to meet federal requirements regarding disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) participation of minority contractors on federally funded projects. The lowest eight of 16 bids were reviewed for compliance; Ziolkowski Construction of South Bend was recommend by staff as the lowest responsive bidder at $2,290,000.

Vote to defer the bid award was 6-2 with Catanzarite and St. Joseph County Commissioner David Niezgodski opposed.

Lake County Councilman Will Smith Jr. asked why Ziolkowski was recommended when the firm listed its DBE participation as “unknown” at time of bid. He noted Larson-Danielson ($2,315,477) and Gibson-Lewis ($2,397,151) listed 12 percent and 11.6 percent DBE participation, respectively.

NICTD’s Joseph Crnkovich said both latter firms proposed using a female-owned electric company as a subcontractor, but he was unsure whether that qualifies as a DBE. He noted the federal regulations are sometimes confusing because if a company documents they made a good faith effort yet found no DBEs willing to subcontract, the requirement can still be satisfied although DBEs should continue to be sought throughout the life of the contract.

LaPorte County Councilman Mark Yagelski said he had a problem that NICTD staff contacted Ziolkowski to clarify its DBE certificate.

Said Smith, “This certainly is very important to me and the DBEs that operate in Northwest Indiana. A lot of people circumvent the DBE issue and my one vote will not be a party to that. My vote will absolutely be no.”

Niezgodski asked if the board were obligated to accept the lowest responsive bid based on federal guidelines. NICTD attorney Michael Harris said yes. Hanas suggested Harris present a legal opinion Feb. 13 whether the three bids discussed comply with DBE guidelines.

In other business...

Also Friday, the board entered into a contract not to exceed $65,340 with Teng & Associates for design and engineering support for South Shore audio and signage upgrades at Chicago’s Randolph Station, which is undergoing a seemingly never-ending renovation.

Another contract at $120,000 for one year was approved with PMA Associates for legislative assistance and analysis regarding the federal transportation reauthorization bill that affects NICTD’s grant awards.

Board member Frances DuPey, Lake County Commissioner, suggested NICTD staff investigate providing bicycle rental or other transportation options for commuters wanting to arrive at Dune Park station and visit a Lake Michigan beach. She said doing so would enhance ridership. Hanas said the Indiana Dunes State Park is about one mile away.

Action was deferred on executing a final agreement with a non-profit coalition formed to take possession of the South Shore’s historic line car retired last year. The original agreement was modified slightly. The matter may be taken up Feb. 13.

The NICTD board reorganized for 2004 retaining Niezgodski as chairman, Smith as vice-chairman, Carmichael as treasurer, and LaPorte County representative Sam Melnick, secretary.

A year-end report was given by marketing director John Parsons noting that 2003 ridership overall was down less than one-half percent over 2002 while weekend travel was up 12 percent. NICTD trains carried 3,573,600 passengers with rush-hour ridership down 2.5 percent reflecting the continued sluggish Chicago job market; off-peak weekday travel matched 2002 levels.

Rush-hour trains were on-time 91.4 percent of the time in 2003, said Parsons. Overall, NICTD operated 12,719 trains in 2003 and 89.7 percent arrived at their terminal on time.

It was reported communication problems experienced Jan. 6 at Dune Park Station are being addressed and resolved as quickly as possible.

The South Shore will provide special inbound and outbound weekday train service to McCormick Place Feb. 6-15 for the Chicago Auto Show. Staggered trains arrive between 10:17 a.m. and 5:24 p.m. and depart McCormick Place from 2:33 p.m. to 10:22 p.m. For more information, visit www.chicago-autoshow.com or www.nictd.com.

Posted 2/2/2004