Alexandria City Council signed off on raising the budget for a Potomac Yard Metro station from $268 million to $320 million on Tuesday night.
The city said last week that increases in the price of concrete and steel have made the project more expensive. Alexandria also said increased demand regionally and nationwide for specialized contractors that could construct an infill station have pushed up the costs. The $268 million estimate was made in 2015.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority received initial bids for the project last year that “significantly exceeded the project’s initial budget,” the city said. Alexandria and WMATA then asked applicants to look into design changes and other cost savings in revised proposals that were submitted earlier this year. Those proposals are still under review, but the estimates are still coming in higher than initial projections, the city said.
Alexandria is paying for the station through a variety of sources — federal grant money, state and federal loans and a special tax district in the area surrounding the station. Station financing will not come from the city’s general fund.
WMATA will oversee construction of the station and, as we reported in March, it hopes to select a contractor by midyear.