Osceola County Roadway and Bridge Bundling Program

In 2000, Osceola County, Florida, faced the challenge of completing a large design and construction program funded by newly adopted impact fees. The program required the concurrent construction of 11 major roadway projects which grew each calendar year as additional designs were complete. Less than seven years into the program, 18 projects were behind schedule largely due to the cumbersome pace of traditional design-bid-build procurements. Design costs were as much as 200% over budget, and the construction projects had incurred over $5 million in change orders. In 2007, a newly appointed county administration devised a plan to bundle the remaining projects and accelerate their completion using the construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC) alternative project delivery method. Under the CM/GC process, project sponsors hire a contractor to provide feedback on the design and constructability during the design phase prior to the start of construction. The bundled program included 11 major roadway projects with a total of 13 bridges. Osceola County engaged six construction managers to participate in the program, matching the type of work to the strengths of each firm. The construction managers worked with the designers to produce efficient construction drawings; teams met weekly to review plans as they were being prepared rather than at major milestones. The construction managers also provided input to the development of the project phasing and maintenance of traffic plans. The teams discussed costs throughout the design process, providing the County with real-time information, rather than waiting for plans to be completed and bid. For some of the projects, the county used a guaranteed maximum price approach for packages of project components. Instead of waiting for construction permits for the entire project to be cleared, work began on right-of-way assembly, utility relocation, and construction of different physical segments of the projects as soon as they were ready, greatly accelerating the process. Thanks to these efficiencies, all 11 major roadway projects were ready to begin construction within a year, compensating for the delays of the previous five years. Funding for the Osceola County Roadway and Bridge Bundling Program came from road impact fees assessed on new property development in the county to pay for related road construction. The County eliminated collection of Road Impact Fees in 2012 but later reinstated them in 2015 as Mobility Fees that may be used for a wider range of transportation system improvements, including roads, transit systems, bikeways and sidewalks. The fee structure was designed to encourage denser land development.

High