DATE: August 19, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Director of Public Works
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Accept and Appropriate $611,000 Grant Funding from the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program; Approve the Local Match of $80,000 from Fund 215- Measure B (Local Transportation) and Fund 460 -Transportation Improvement Fund; Execute a Restricted Grant Agreement with the California Department of Transportation; and Create a Capital Improvement Project for the Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan, Project No. 05359
RECOMMENDATION
That the City Council adopts a resolution (Attachment II) authorizing the City Manager to accept and appropriate $611,000 grant funding from the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program, approve the local match of $80,000 from Fund 215- Measure B (Local Transportation) and Fund 460 - Transportation Improvement Fund , execute a Restricted Grant Agreement with the California Department of Transportation, and create a new Capital Improvement Project for the Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan.
SUMMARY
The City was recently awarded $611,000 grant funding from the California Department of Transportation’s (Caltrans) Sustainable Transportation Planning (STP) Fiscal Year 2025 - 2026 Grant program to develop the Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan , which includes assessment of the existing streetlight conditions and recommendations o f the illumination levels for various development areas with the focus on pedestrian and bicycle corridors. Staff recommends adopting a resolution to accept and appropriate $611,000 grant funding from the Caltrans STP Program, approve the local match of $80,000 from Fund 215- Measure B (Local Transportation) and Fund 460 - Transportation Improvement Fund , execute a Restricted Grant Agreement with Caltrans, and create a new capital improvement project for the Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan.
BACKGROUND
The Caltrans STP grant program was created to support the Caltrans mission to provide a safe and reliable transportation network that serves all people and respects the
environment. The STP grant has 3 grant categories: Sustainable Communities, Climate Adaptation Planning, and Strategic Partnerships & Strategic Partnership-Transit. The grant application for the Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan was submitted under the Sustainable Communities grant category, w hich intends to fund multimodal projects that further sustainable communities and alternative planning strategies in the Regional Transportation Plan and to ultimately achieve the State’s greenhouse gas reduction target of 40 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 2050, respectively. The grant program requires a minimum of 11.47% of local match in cash or in-kind contribution.
The grant application was first submitted on January 18th, 2024, for the Fiscal Year 2024-25 with the project title as “Streetlight Master Plan.” The grant application included $430,000 in grant request and $56,100 in a local cash match. However, the grant application was not selected for this fiscal year.
The grant application was later updated based on Caltrans feedback and resubmitted on January 22nd, 2025, for the Fiscal Year 2025 -26, with the project title as “Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan.” The grant application included $611,000 in grant request and $80,000 (11.58%) in a local cash match. On July 1st, 2025, Caltrans notified that the grant application was selected for grant funding.
DISCUSSION
The Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan is proposed to strategically prevent nighttime collisions and accommodate safe travels for all road users in dark conditions. The Plan will include assessment of the existing lighting conditions, recommendations of minimum illumination levels in various development areas with a focus on high pedestrian and bicycle corridors, and establish ment of maintenance programs, processes for handling new street light requests, and short- and long-term capital improvement alternatives.
Poor lighting conditions and a lack of streetlights have been identified as travel safety concerns at nighttime in the City. Based on the City’s Local Road Safety Plan (LRSP) (2023), 58% of the fatal and severe injury crashes reported between 20 17 and 2023 occurred at nighttime. Further, based on the collision data from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Record System, 58% of pedestrian -involved and 54% of bicycle -involved fatal or severe injury collisions occurred in dark conditions with or without streetlights , underscoring the need for enhanced lighting systems.
The Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan is a necessary tool to evaluate and improve the existing citywide lighting system and prevent collisions to help achieve the City’s Vision Zero goal by 2050 . The LRSP recommended adding intersection lighting, which is a proven countermeasure with a crash reduction factor of 40% based on Caltrans’ Local Road Safety Manual; the lighting at intersections and on its approaches is expected to improve nighttime safety by making drivers aware of the surroundings, enhancing drivers’ available sight distances, and increasing the visibility of non -motorists. The Federal Highway Safety Administration also indicates that adequate lighting at or abo ve minimum acceptable
standards can reduce nighttime injury pedestrian crashes at intersections by 42% and nighttime injury crashes on rural and urban highways by 28%.
In addition to the benefits of collision reduction, the future streetlight improvements based on the Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan are also expected to result in other public benefits such as emissions reductions with dimming and smart lighting technology, mode shift from auto to walking or biking at nighttime, crime prevention, and increased accessibility to safer multi-modal corridors. With these expected benefits, the plan therefore aligns with the City’s mode shift and greenhouse gas reduction goals, MTC’s guiding principle to provide a safe and multimodal tran sportation system, and Caltrans’ goal s related to safety, climate, accessibility, and infrastructure found in the California Transportation Plan 2050.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan will provide a roadmap for implementing future improved streetlight system which will accommodate safer travels , reduce crime, and increase access to key destinations in dark conditions.
FISCAL IMPACT
This agenda item will not impact the City’s General Fund. The total project cost for the Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan is $691,000, including $611,000 grant funding from the Caltrans STP Grant program and $80,000 local cash match from Fund 215- Measure B (Local Transportation) and Fund 460 - Transportation Improvement Fund detailed in the table below. Sufficient fund balance exists in both funds to support this project.
Fund
215 $75,500
460 $4,500
Total Matching Portion $80,000
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Enhance Community Safety, Champion Climate Resilience & Environmental Justice , and Invest in Infrastructure . This item is not specifically related to a project identified in the Strategic Roadmap. Staff is bringing forward this new item to develop a plan to enhance the City’s streetlight system to support Strategic Priorities by increasing safety, reducing emissions, and improving the streetlight infrastructure.
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES
The Plan will include recommendations of illumination levels and energy-efficient streetlights, which could encourage and incentivize walking and biking for residents at nighttime and thereby reduce automobile dependency and greenhouse gas emissions over time.
PUBLIC CONTACT
The Plan will include outreach and engagement with the general public, diverse community groups, as well as the development of the Technical Advisory Committee to collect any feedback and concerns regarding the City’s streetlight system. All necessary stakeholders and affected neighborhoods, agencies, community-based organizations, and businesses will have opportunities for input, and be done in a way that is equitable.
NEXT STEPS
If Council approves this request, the City Manager will accept and appropriate $611,000 grant funding from the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program; approve the local match of $80,000 from Fund 215 - Measure B (Local Transportation) and Fund 460 - Transportation Improvement Fund; and enter into a Restricted Grant Agreement with California Department of Transportation . A new capital improvement project for the Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan, Project No. 05359, will be created in Fund 215 and 460.
Once the Restricted Grant Agreement is executed, staff will start advertising to select a consultant to support the development of the Nighttime Safety Enhancement Plan.
Prepared by: Jade Kim, Assistant Transportation Engineer Byron Tang, Principal Transportation Engineer
Recommended by: Alex Ameri, Director of Public Works
Approved by:
________________________________________________
Jayanti Addleman, Interim City Manager