Peter van der Waart was named CEO on April 15 of Purple Line Transit Partners LLC, the P3 team developing the $5.6-billion, 16.2-mile Purple Line light rail in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., firm spokesman John Undeland has confirmed.
Van der Waart is the third CEO of the venture—made up of Meridiam Services LLC, Fluor Corp. and Star America—since its start in 2017, and now replaces Alfred B. Craig, who was named to the role in March 2018 after Rob Chappell departed for personal reasons.
Undeland cites Craig’s contributions to the project and said the change is a board decision. Craig, a former Meridiam project manager, is leaving PLTP and the firm.
Van der Waart was Meridiam’s North America asset management director and is the former CEO of its P3 joint venture to build California’s Presidio Parkway.
The CEO change comes as PLTP and the Maryland Transit Administration dispute estimated project completion, originally set for late 2022, and cost allocation for delays and accelerated work.
The project faced a year-long starting delay because of a legal challenge.
Undeland also notes there are management changes being made in PLTP’s design-build joint venture, made up of Fluor Corp., Lane Construction. Traylor Brothers and Atkins as leads, but he did not specify them.
Lawrence D. “Larry” Hazzard, a noted U.S. transportation project manager and former design firm executive, died on April 18 in Littleton, Colo., at 8, according to an online obituary
The cause of death was linked to Parkinson’s disease and cancer, says the obituary.
Hazzard led transportation design at O’Brien-Kreitzberg & Associates, Carter & Burgess and Stantec, retiring from the latter in 2011 as a transportation principal.
He was “a giant in the early expansion of rail projects and mentored many of us through,” said one industry peer in a tribute. Hazzard also was a supporter of the Womens' Transportaton Seminar, through which he endowed a scholarship.
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