Paseo del Norte Extension - Albuquerque, NM

Wilson & Company served as lead program consultant for this pivotal major interchange in the northern metropolitan area of Albuquerque.  Collaborating with the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT). Deliverables included:

• Developed the conceptual design for the interchange
• Prepared the preliminary design and plans
• Developed and executed the procurement process for the selection of the design-build team

Initially, the interchange complex was unachievable at a cost of more than $350 million. A strong partnership of funding stakeholders was formed that included NMDOT, the City of Albuquerque, and Bernalillo County. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provided political and technical leadership. Finally, a design developed that provided significant necessary operational and safety improvements.

An aggressive and interactive design-build procurement process was used to ensure best-value selection that met schedule milestones. The project schedule was constrained by the FHWA approval process and a local political milestone, which required expeditious and innovative procurement.

A FHWA Interstate Access Change Request (IACR) submittal and approval was required before the Final RFP could be issued, which jeopardized the political necessity of meeting a milestone date for contractor selection and notice-to-proceed. The project team worked closely with the FHWA to obtain an approval of the IACR within six weeks. The two-step process expedited the timeline from short-listing and issuance of the Draft Request for Proposals (RFP) to submittal of design-build proposals to only six months.

Even with an extremely abbreviated schedule, more than 30 confidential one-on-one meetings were conducted with short-listed design-build proposers, resulting in 13 approved Alternative Technical Concepts (ATCs).

The best-value RFP required proposers to meet or beat a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for budget compliance, which included strong schedule incentives. Scoring emphasized qualitative elements such as project management plans and technical approaches. The selected design-build team met the project GMP, provided a strong qualitative approach and committed to a project schedule that reduced the construction time from two years to only 15 months.