Replacing King County’s aging emergency radio system, the Puget Sound Emergency Radio Network (PSERN), is a vital and complex public safety effort that involves working with a wide range of stakeholders. We identify scope, schedule, and budget risks to King County’s $273 million levy funded project to upgrade its emergency radio network, including unresolved stakeholder concerns about delivery of improved coverage for buildings by the new system, schedule delays with delivering radio tower sites, and project reporting based on potentially unrealistic assumptions.

The PSERN project team is performing additional analysis to address stakeholder concern about coverage within buildings. Potential response to results of the analysis has not been fully developed but could range from no change in scope to adding additional radio sites.

Longer than anticipated lease negotiations and approvals are adding to prior delays in starting radio tower site development. The County was initially held back from starting lease negotiations from late 2015 through mid-2016 until its vendor, Motorola, provided adequate technical information and identified suitable sites. Once lease negotiations were begun in 2016, additional problems related primarily to landlord engagement led to further delays. Overall delay is now impacting planned sequencing for development, increasing risks associated with shortened construction timelines. Cumulatively these delays could impact major project milestones if lease completion issues continue.

Project information regarding site development costs is not yet baselined in the county’s Project Information Center, weakening Council’s ability to provide oversight.

We recommend increasing planning for engagement with building owners regarding in-building coverage. We also recommend evaluating reorganizing the project’s work breakdown and schedule to address site development schedule delays and entering the project baseline information in the county’s Project Information System to allow strengthened oversight.