L.A. Now Live: Delays, costs mount for 405 Freeway project

Several snafus have delayed construction and added about $100 million to an epic, 10-mile long, billion-dollar 405 Freeway widening project. Other problems have included contested rights-of-way, design changes and the time-consuming relocation of multiple underground utility lines.

There is debate about who is to blame for the problems. Transportation and construction officials are expected to take months to resolve questions about who bears responsibility and how much of the cost overruns taxpayers will have to cover.

Join us at 9 a.m. as we discuss the 405 widening project and its delays with Times reporter Martha Groves.

The freeway project is being built using a speedier-than-typical process. State lawmakers fast-tracked the construction by choosing the “design-build” method over the more traditional “design-bid-build.”

Design-build puts a single contractor in charge of final design and construction, in theory enabling projects to run more smoothly and to be completed at lower cost.

Shaving years off the project “saves hundreds of millions of dollars in construction impacts, costs and travel delays for the public,” said Dave Sotero, a Metro spokesman.

But there can be downsides to this approach: Some tasks that normally would be completed before the bulldozers and pile drivers move in -- such as relocating utility lines -- must be completed while construction is underway, and nasty surprises can derail plans.