Federal Lawsuit Questions MnDOT's Bid Process for St. Croix River Crossing

C.S. McCrossan filed a federal lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Transportation on Monday in U.S. District Court alleging that MnDOT and its commissioner illegally rejected its bid to construct the approach work for the St. Croix River Crossing.

C.S. McCrossan is seeking an “immediate injunction to halt further work while the courts determine if the department acted properly in awarding the bid to a company with a lower technical score and price tag that was $6 million greater than the McCrossan bid,” according to a news release the company issued Monday afternoon.

• Click here to view the complaint (attached as a PDF to this post)

The federal lawsuit alleges that MnDOT improperly applied federal rules with respect to hiring disadvantaged business enterprises (DBE).

“We are in no way debating the DBE program, but rather, we are expressing our concern over the subjective nature of how the state applies the rules,” Tom McCrossan, president of C.S. McCrossan said in a statement. “McCrossan was never given the opportunity to continue with efforts to secure additional DBE participation, which has been past practice on other projects and is encouraged by federal regulations.”

"MnDOT does not comment on projects or other issues that are in litigation," department spokesperson Mary McFarland said when asked what the lawsuit means for the St. Croix River Crossing Project's timeline. "I look forward to being able to share information about the project with you in the near future."

Originally, C.S. McCrossan and Sons was the apparent best-value bidder, according to a MnDOT news release earlier this month. However, upon further review of the contractor’s proposal, MnDOT found that McCrossan did not demonstrate a "good-faith effort" for hiring disadvantaged business enterprises, a requirement of all projects that receive federal funding.

DBEs are women- and minority-owned businesses.

Subsequently, the McCrossan proposal was rejected. MnDOT then awarded the contract to the next best-value bidder, the Ames/Lunda contracting team, which committed to the DBE hiring goal of 16.7 percent. 

The Ames/Lunda bid was for $58 million. The C.S. McCrossan bid was for $52 million.

“Federal law requires that women-owned and minority-owned businesses are provided opportunities to participate in building our roads and bridges,” Jon Chiglo, St. Croix Crossing project manager stated in a news release. “This is achieved by establishing DBE goals.”

Along with reconstructing and realigning Minnesota Hwy 36 and Hwy 95, the project includes:

• Adding turn lanes on both intersections at Oakgreen and Greely, as well as Osgood
• Realigning the intersection of Oakgreen and Greeley to improve access points
• Creating a shared center turn lane by converting the north and south frontage roads
• Adding a trail along the south frontage road to connect to the new loop trail
• Adding ponds to improve storm water treatment and water quality
• Creating access to Hwy 95 by connecting the south frontage road to Stage Coach Trail
• Realigning the Beach Road bridge to include bike and pedestrian trails
• Constructing noise and retaining walls
• Adding traffic signals, lighting, signing and pavement markings
• Implementing an Intelligent Transportation System with cameras and traffic detection
• Relocating utilities

MnDOT hopes the Highway 36 project will begin this spring and be completed by fall 2014.