City Of Portland Sues TriMet For $10M Over Faulty Construction Work

City Of Portland Sues TriMet For $10M Over Faulty Construction Work

Introduction

The region’s public transit agency and the construction company has been sued by the city of Portland's attorneys for $10 million in repairs over poor construction work on a Southeast Portland streetcar platform.

The lawsuit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court against TriMet and Stacy and Witbeck. Both of these are California-based construction companies that were hired by the transit agency to make improvements to the streetcar platform located near the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

As per the lawsuit, two governments entered into an agreement for the project and a firm was to be hired by TriMet to make fixes to the city-owned platform. Ultimately Stacy and Witbeck was hired as the main contractor by the agency.

The lawsuit argues that the construction would need millions to fix severe changes. The suit even alleges that the company failed to supervise subcontractors and perform in a professional manner to construct the platform, which had cracks and other foundational flaws.

The city has maintained a streetcar system for over two decades that runs through downtown. Trimet launched a “Eastside Close the Loop Project” along with the city in 2013 to create a full streetcar loop around the central city tha would connect the Tilikum Crossing Bridge.