Freedom Tower timetables and budgets are looking worse than ever, according to new reports.  It seems the problems are hard to even quantify, in fact, with Port Authority executive director Christopher Ward calling for a sort of fresh start.

At Governor Paterson’s request, Ward began a thorough reassessment about a month ago.  Following a first step, he wrote, “[T]he schedule and cost estimates of the rebuilding effort that have been communicated to the public are not realistic. . . .  [W]e found that at least 15 fundamental issues critical to the overall project had not yet been resolved . . .”

It’s good that Ward could provide so honest a look at the situation.  It’s also encouraging that a central “steering committee” should be formed as a result.  The 101 contractors and sub-contractors, 33 designers, 19 public agencies, and two private developers working on the project could use some direction.

Some real progress is taking place, of course, as physical evidence at the World Trade Center site can prove.  It’s just that, otherwise, things aren’t looking good.

A second phase of Ward’s assessment should be finished towards the end of September.  Hopefully he’ll have some better news to report at that time.

You can examine Ward’s initial 36-page overview here.