Fall and Rise of the Largest Construction Manager-at-Risk Transportation Construction Project Ever

All parties agree that the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC) construction project got off to a bad start, but why did this project—so anxiously anticipated, so badly needed, and kicked off with such fanfare—seem destined for so long to be remembered as a high-priced failure? After the bad start, why did the MIC project seem to struggle so for almost four years before—seemingly all at once—finding direction? What were the factors behind the bad start? What were the factors behind the lack of progress once the project started? What were the factors behind a remarkable turnaround? This paper answers these questions and more. The product of four years of research and data gathering, this paper should be of use to researchers and practitioners. It uses dozens of interviews with project planners, Florida Department of Transportation administrators, and construction personnel, as well as pertinent data to tell the story of the first 5 years of the construction of this groundbreaking world-class multimodal facility that is estimated to take 15–20 years to construct and cost approximately $2.5 billion.