Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Second Amendment to the Service Provider Agreement with CDM Smith to Extend the Term by Three Years and Increase Compensation by $2,200,000, Including Contingencies, for a Total Aggregate Compensation Not to Exceed $2,572,928, to Complete the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED) and the Plans, Specifications and Estimate (PS&E) for the Central Avenue Safety Improvement Project; and
Adoption of Resolution Adopting Caltrans’ Local Assistance Procedures Manual Chapter 10 for Consultant Selection. (Transportation 4227287)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In February 2016, the City Council approved the Central Avenue Safety Improvement Project to construct bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements and reconfigure the lane striping for a 1.7 mile segment of Central Avenue. The City Council directed staff to continue the design development process with Caltrans and to work with the neighboring community to refine the improvements planned for the Webster Street area.
To use the $10.8 million state and federal funds that the City of Alameda (City) has secured, the City must work with Caltrans to complete a Project Initiation Document (PID), a Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED), and Plans, Specifications and Estimate (PS&E). CDM Smith currently is under contract to complete the PID, which is expected to be finished this fall.
This CDM Smith contract amendment is to complete the two Caltrans required pre-construction phases: the PA&ED and the PS&E. It also will support the continued design refinements for the Webster Street area options, the required environmental documents, and final construction drawings for the project. Funding is budgeted from Measures B/BB, a federal grant and the General Fund.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of the Central Avenue project is to make Central Avenue safer for people walking, bicycling, taking transit and driving along this 1.7 mile segment of Central Avenue between Main Street/Pacific Avenue and Sherman Street/Encinal Avenue. The study area is designated as Caltrans State Highway 61 between Webster Street and Sherman Street/Encinal Avenue. The Central Avenue study area has a disproportionate number of injuries from collisions compared to other streets in the City. Although the City has designated a 25-mile an hour speed limit for Central Avenue, average speeds are over 30 miles an hour, which contributes to the severity of collisions on the street.
The 2016, the City Council approved a series of design changes to improve safety and reduce speeding on Central Avenue that included:
• Restriping the street to provide two motor vehicle travel lanes and a center turn lane;
• Adding bicycle lanes between Eighth Street and Sherman Street/Encinal Avenue;
• Adding a two-way protected bikeway adjacent to the three schools between Alameda Point and Paden Elementary School;
• Adding traffic signals at Third Street and Fifth Street, if warranted;
• Adding curb extensions, street trees, pedestrian refuge islands, rectangular rapid flashing beacons, and new crosswalks to improve pedestrian comfort and safety; and
• Adding enhanced bus stops for transit users.
The City Council also directed staff to work with the West Alameda Business Association and interested parties to fine tune the design for the blocks between McKay Avenue and Eighth Street that pass by the Webster Street business district.
In 2017, the City received confirmation of funding from the Caltrans Active Transportation Program for $7.3 million and from Alameda County Transportation Commission’s federal/state funding for $3.5 million, which totals $10.8 million in federal and state grant monies mainly for construction.
On April 17, 2018, the City Council approved the CDM Smith consulting contract to complete the required PID (Exhibit 1). The Caltrans-required PID defines the project’s scope, cost and schedule to obtain conceptual approval by Caltrans before proceeding to further design, environmental review and construction. City staff extended the term of this Agreement to June 30, 2020 (Exhibit 2). The CDM Smith team is in the process of finalizing the PID this fall.
City staff continued working with Webster Street merchants to refine the concept for the Webster Street area. Subsequently, on March 19, 2019, the City Council approved four design options to study for the Webster Street area, and also approved an extension of the more protected two-way bikeway from Paden Elementary School to McKay Avenue to cover the entire San Francisco Bay Trail.
DISCUSSION
The next required steps in the pre-construction design process are the completion of the PA&ED and the PS&E. The PA&ED provides the project clearance for the concept including the final Webster Street area design and the environmental review for the project. The PS&E produces the final design and construction drawings for the project.
Exhibits 3 through 8 include the CDM Smith Second Amendment and the proposed PA&ED and PS&E work scopes, budgets and schedule. The consultant selection process followed the Caltrans Local Assistance Procedures Manual (LAPM) for federal and state funded transportation projects. The resolution formally commits the City to adopt LAPM, Chapter 10 for Consultant Selection, which is a Caltrans requirement for federal and state funded transportation projects.
As part of the PA&ED phase, City / consultant team will continue to develop the design drawings for the project and the Webster Street area to:
• Ensure maximum safety of all travel modes including a geometric analysis based on a topographic survey;
• Improve traffic operations and minimize travel delay;
• Consider time savings with signal timing and phasing improvements;
• Minimize parking loss, improve loading zones, improve accessible parking, and improve intersection visibility;
• Address site-specific conditions such as at Golden House Adult Development Center for accessibility;
• Complete the environmental assessment and prepare the categorical exemption/categorical exclusion for the project; and
• Complete preliminary engineering and investigations, the final topographic survey of the corridor, the pavement assessment and design, utility coordination and the stormwater/hydrology analysis.
The recommended scope of work includes a review of the revised designs with the recommended design for the Webster Street area expected to be presented to the Transportation Commission and City Council in spring 2020 and environmental documentation expected to be completed in early 2021. Caltrans approval of the environmental document is required before proceeding to the final design and the PS&E phase of the project. The environmental document is expected to be a categorical exclusion (CATEX) for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and a categorical exemption (CE) for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
During the PS&E phase, the staff / consultant team will prepare the final construction drawings for the entire 1.7 mile corridor. The primary milestones in the PS&E phase include the 65 percent, 95 percent and 100 percent plan development, the support services for stormwater and hydrology and construction bid support as well as overall coordination with Caltrans, City staff and community members. The PS&E must comply with all applicable federal and state regulations and procedures, and will be submitted to Caltrans along with a request for authorization to proceed with construction.
ALTERNATIVES
The Council could pursue one of three alternatives:
• Approve the second amendment to authorize $2.2 million to complete the next two (2) phases of the work: the PA&ED and the PS&E, as recommended.
• Modify the amendment to authorize CDM Smith to complete the next phase of the work (the PA&ED), but not the PS&E work at this time. Under this alternative, staff would return at a future date to amend the contract for the PS&E work at a future date.
• Deny the second amendment and direct staff to re-issue a RFP for the work to solicit bids from competing firms. Staff does not recommend this approach because it would require the expenditure of additional City resources, and staff does not believe that a different consultant team would be able to cost effectively complete the work begun by the CDM Smith team.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The $1,420,000 consultant budget for the PA&ED phase and the $780,000 consultant budget for the PS&E phase of the Central Avenue safety improvement project totals $2,200,000 for this Second Amendment to the Agreement and includes contingencies. These pre-construction phases will be funded by a federal Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant, Measure B and BB Local Streets and Roads monies and the General Fund per the approved Capital Improvement Program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20. The costs are higher than other corridor projects because an extra level of effort is required for projects on the State Highway System and because the City has obtained federal monies, which necessitates the City to fulfill federal requirements. The City Council previously approved the original contract; the First Amendment is only a time extension; the Second Amendment is the purpose of this request (Table 1).
Table 1: Central Avenue Project - Costs by Contract Phase
|
Contract |
Approval Date |
Authorized Amount |
Expended (as of October 2019) |
|
Original Contract |
April 18, 2018 |
$372,928 |
$356,663 |
|
1st Amendment |
June 10, 2019 |
Term extension only |
Not applicable |
|
2nd Amendment (if approved) |
November 5, 2019 |
$2,200,000 |
Not applicable |
|
Total |
|
$2,572,928 |
$356,663 |
The initial concept phase completed between 2014 and 2016 was funded by a Caltrans Community Based Transportation Planning (CBTP) grant with matching funds for a total of $221,550. The PID phase, which is currently underway and will be completed this fall, is funded with local transportation funds. The next two phases (PA&ED and PS&E) total $2.5 million. Construction, which is expected to start in mid-2022, is supported by two federal grants for the project in the amount of $11.7 million, when including the required local match monies. In total, the project will cost approximately $15 million with 74 percent coming from federal and state grants and 26 percent coming from local monies. If the adjacent Enterprise District at Alameda Point were to develop during construction of the Central Avenue project, there would be potential for development fees to cover some of the local match requirements for construction.
Table 2: Central Avenue Project - Costs by Project Phase
|
|
Concept |
PID |
PA&ED |
PS&E |
Construction |
Total |
% |
|
Grants |
$198,095 |
$0 |
$180,000 |
$300,000 |
$10,333,000 |
$11,011,095 |
74% |
|
Local Match |
$23,455 |
$557,000 |
$1,420,000 |
$600,000 |
$1,340,000 |
$3,940,455 |
26% |
|
Total Cost |
$221,550 |
$557,000 |
$1,600,000 |
$900,000 |
$11,673,000 |
$14,951,550 |
|
|
Schedule |
2014-16 |
2018-19 |
2019-21 |
2021-22 |
2022 |
|
|
Funding and appropriations for the project have been approved as part of the FY 2019-21 biennial budget. Current available project balance is approximately $1.6 million with an additional $900,000 approved in the FY 2020-21 Budget.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The Central Avenue project is consistent with the following City documents:
• The Safety and Noise Element of the General Plan (Policy SN-5) states: “Ensure that the City prioritize public safety through the implementation of a Vision Zero policy to reduce annual pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities and serious injuries resulting from collisions with faster moving vehicles and unsafe street design.”
• The Transportation Element of the General Plan lists Central Avenue as a transit priority street, a bicycle priority street and a truck route, in school and recreation zones and as an island arterial, and lists other priorities that are addressed in the Central Avenue concept such as multimodal, safety and environmental improvements and considering needs for individuals with disabilities.
• The Pedestrian Plan identifies the Central Avenue improvements as a priority.
• The Bicycle Plan identifies the Central Avenue bikeway project as a high-priority project. The Transportation Choices Plan lists the Central Avenue project as a Vision Zero Safety Improvements and Traffic Calming priority.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The City Council determined in 2016 that the planning concept and the design work to implement the design concept would not result in an environmental impact pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines section 15061(b)(3). No further environmental review is required at this time for this action.
CLIMATE IMPACTS
Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Alameda expected to amount to 70 percent by 2020. This project will further the implementation of the following City planning documents: Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (2019), Transportation Choices Plan (2018), Bicycle Plan Update (2010) the Pedestrian Plan (2009), and the Climate Plan (2008), which highlight the need for sustainable transportation such as increased bicycling and walking and for the reduction of solo driving so as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation to authorize the City Manager to execute a second amendment to the service provider agreement with CDM Smith to extend the term by three years and increase compensation by $2,200,000 including contingencies, for a total aggregate compensation not to exceed $2,572,928, to complete the Project Approval and Environmental Document and Plans, Specifications and Estimate for the Central Avenue Safety Improvement Project, and adoption of resolution adopting the Caltrans Local Assistance Procedures Manual Chapter 10 for consultant selection.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
After evaluation of this amendment with the Planning, Building and Transportation Director, it was determined that the amendment was disclosed satisfactorily in the initial RFP and that this firm would continue to best meet the needs of the City on this project.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
By,
Gail Payne, Senior Transportation Coordinator
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Service Provider Agreement
2. First Amendment
3. Second Amendment
4. Proposed Work Scope for Project Approval (PA) and Environmental Documentation (ED)
5. Proposed Work Scope for Plans, Specifications and Estimate (PS&E)
6. Proposed Budget for PA&ED
7. Proposed Budget for PS&E
8. Schedule for PA&ED and PS&E
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager