Media Statement for September 10, 2013 While there can be no question that the original design of the

Silver Spring Transit Center was defective, we have cooperatively participated in meetings for 18 weeks to assist the County in defining the work it wishes to have performed at the Transit Center. In the spirit of cooperation, we provided recommendations that we strongly believe constituted the best engineering approach. Our recommendations with regard to the overlay have been ignored in favor of an approach that we believe to be highly inadvisable an approach insisted upon by the Countys design engineer over our strenuous objections. The designers approach is technically ill advised and ill conceived. The designers approach will significantly delay the opening of the Transit Center until the summer of 2014, at best. Additionally, the designers plans call for a much more costly approach, which will ultimately be passed down to county taxpayers. We have seen reports stating that the recommended fix will only take six weeks. Statements to that effect are disingenuous. While certain aspects of the physical work -surface preparation and installation of the overlay may, depending upon the final design, only take six weeks, the County knows that: (1) there are numerous actions which the County and others must take, as well as other physical work that must occur which will take an additional 6-8 weeks to complete in the best of circumstances before the physical overlay work can be started; and (2) that 6-8 week process will push the physical work into the winter when the latex modified concrete (LMC) overlay work cannot be performed. We repeatedly have made this known to the County and its consultants. We are highly disappointed that it has taken 18 weeks and all we have is a decision from the County to move forward with an ill-advised approach that is going to take more time than necessary and going to cost the County even more money. As we have said in the past, we want to get the Transit Center open for the citizens of Montgomery County, but we are again frustrated that it has taken so long to get to this point and that the decisions being made will not accomplish this goal in an effective, timely, and cost efficient way. Statement from: Bryant Foulger, Managing Principal, Foulger-Pratt