DATE: September 2, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Director of Public Works
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute an Agreement with the Alameda County Transportation Commission to Advance the Interstate 880/A Street Interchange Improvement Project and Allocate $1,350,000 from Fund 212 to the Project
RECOMMENDATION
That the City Council approves a resolution (Attachment II) authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with the Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) to Advance the Interstate 880 /A Street Interchange Improvement Project and allocate $1,350,000 from Fund 212 (Measure BB Local Transportation) to the Project.
SUMMARY
The City, in partnership with the Alameda CTC, and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) propose to provide improvements at the Winton Avenue and A Street interchange along the Interstate 880 (I-880) corridor.
After the passage of the Alameda CTC 2014 Transportation Expenditure Plan in January 2014, the City requested that Alameda CTC begin advancing improvements for the I-880 Interchange Improvements (Winton Avenue and A Street) Project (Project) . Alameda CTC developed a Project Initiation Document (PID), led by Kimley Horn & Associates (K imley Horn) that identified alternatives. More recently, Alameda CTC and the City selected a preferred alternative , shown in Attachment II I, that would retain the existing five -lane configuration, improve safety on the ramps, and add two 12-foot-wide shared bicycle and pedestrian paths.
The Project is currently in the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED) phase. Completion of this phase requires Council action to allocate supplemental funding for the Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E) phase. Staff will also update the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) project listing, which is required for the Project’s environmental documents to be approved. The City of Hayward will be listed as the interim implementing agency for the PS&E phase with plans
to transition the implementation responsibilities to Alameda CTC when a more detailed funding plan for construction is developed.
BACKGROUND
The City prepared a feasibility study for the I-880/Winton Avenue interchange in December 2015. Alameda CTC expanded upon the feasibility study and developed the Project Study Report-Project Development Support (PSR-PDS) for the Project, which was approved by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in October 2019. The Project is currently in the PA&ED phase.
On May 25, 20211, the City Council reviewed and selected a preferred alternative for A Street and Winton Avenue.2 City Council approved the following improvements:
Winton Avenue interchange – a partial cloverleaf design with signalized intersections at the ramps
A Street interchange – retaining the diamond interchange design, with a wide sidewalks/multiuse paths installed bicycle/pedestrian path I-880 improvements – add auxiliary lanes between the two interchanges
City Council preferred an alternative for A Street that included a 6-lane cross section under the freeway with separate turn lanes for each of the I-880 on-ramps. However, after Caltrans’ review in 2022 , this was deemed infeasible due to the inability to meet lane width requirements with 6 lanes; therefore, the existing five lane configuration was retained with added bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure (Attachment III).
DISCUSSION
Over the past several years, City staff have been working with Alameda CTC to identify a financial path forward for this project. The City currently has four interchanges on I-880 at various stages of design (Whipple R oad, Industrial Parkway, Winton Avenue, and A Street), as well as the Clawiter R oad interchange of State Route 92. Each of these projects require significant reconstruction of major interchanges that outstrip available resources for these types of projects. In addition, individual interchange projects require significant coordination and construction projects need to be spaced over time. Finally, general transportation priorities have shifted both for the City and for regional agencies and there is less funding available for major interchange and highway projects than there was when these projects were first identified.
The City does have access to a funding source that is dedicated to improvements on nearby freeways. As part of the cancellation of the Route 238 Bypass, the funding for that project, as well as the revenue from the sales of excess state-owned properties, was placed into a Local
1 https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4960819&GUID=CEAC760A-6A5F-4D24-BED4- 4F60A63BC155&Options=&Search=
2 https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4803668&GUID=3693FFE3-4058-4FC7-B65C- 421AFA1D29CD&Options=ID|Text|&Search=Alameda+County+Transportation+Commission
Alternative Transportation Improvement Program (LATIP). This funding must follow specific requirements established by State law, including a specific list of projects that were established through a multiagency agreement between the City of Hayward, Alameda County, the City of San Leandro, and Alameda CTC. The City Council approved the project list on July 24, 20 07,3 which was subsequently approved by the California Transportation Commission. The LATIP project list that was approved by the California Transportation Commission in 2010 is included as Attachment IV.
Given the costs of the projects identified in the LATI P, the program could contribute to two to three interchange projects. Because the priorities for LATIP were established under the initial agreement, any change to the agreement, the project list, or the order in which projects are completed would require action of the State legislature and agreement among the initial partners to the agreement, which could lead to unexpected outcomes.
Based on the LATIP agreement and status of projects on the list, the next two projects that can be constructed with this fun ding are the Industrial Parkway interchange, including adding the missing northbound off ramp, and the A Street/Winton Ave nue interchanges, including completing the auxiliary lanes between the two interchanges. Staff are proposing to advance the A Street p ortion of this project as the first constructable segment, with additional changes to Winton Avenue and the mainline addressed at a future date. The interchange improvements need to be constructed before the auxiliary lanes can be added.
Currently the Project is in the PA&ED phase. A California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Initial Study with Proposed Negative Declaration was prepared by Caltrans in cooperation with Alameda CTC and City of Hayward in May 2022. Similarly, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) will be prepared by Caltrans. Although environmental documents have been publicly circulated, t he project cannot advance to the PS&E phase unless it receives NEPA approval from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). FHWA approval of NEPA requires commitment of funds to be shown for the PS&E phase in the MTC’s TIP listing for the project and the TIP listing will need to be updated.
One additional requirement to update the Project’s TIP listing is to designate an Implementing Agency for the PS&E phase. Alameda CTC staff has notified the City that they could not be listed as the Implementing Agency for the PS&E phase, even if that were the City’s preference, until a funding plan for construction is better defined. This includes providing information on the certainty regarding the revenue from sales of LATIP properties that would be available for construction, a backup funding plan if LA TIP funding would not be available in time for construction, and commitment that the City will continue to participate in Project Sponsor responsibilities through construction. City staff recommends that the City be listed as the interim Implementing Agenc y to meet the deadline to update the TIP listing and continue working with Alameda CTC staff to provide clarity on construction funding so that the City’s interim Implementing Agency status can be transitioned to Alameda CTC.
3 https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/Browse.aspx?id=136816&repo=r-b6d2994c
The A Street interchange imp rovements are the most feasible elements of the A Street/Winton Avenue project. It will address safety at the I-880 on and off ramps and will create improved pedestrian and bicycle connectivity under the freeway. The construction for this project can be fully funded using LATIP funds with the City contributing totaling not- to-exceed amount of $1,350,000 towards the total $4,000,000 needed to develop plans, specifications, and estimates.
Given the challenge of advancing both the A Street and Winton Avenue i nterchanges at the same time, Alameda CTC and the City ha ve proposed advancing the A Street interchange as the most feasible path to moving this project forward and has received Caltrans concurrence on this phased approach. Further delays by not receiving Caltrans project approval in a timely manner may subject the project t o unforeseen changes to federal and state requirements and may put the environmental documentation at risk. The current action would authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with Alameda CTC to commit the required funds to receive Caltrans project approval and advance to the PS&E phase for the A Street portion of the project.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
This item has no direct economic impact. The current action will help fund the design effort.
The future project will have safety and multimodal connectivity benefits, that will have small reductions in health care costs due to reduced risk of traffic collisions.
FISCAL IMPACT
This item does not impact the General Fund. The $1,350,000 City contribution needed for this PS&E phase of the project would be drawn from Fund 21 2, Measure BB – Local Transportation.
Funding for construction is anticipated to be drawn from the Route 238 LATIP. The LATIP account receives revenues based on the selling of Route 238 properties. Most of the projects in the LATIP are on I -880, though it also includes the City’s Mission Boulevard project. Per the approved agreement, t he A Street project can receive up to $27.7 million i n LATIP funding, which has a total construction cost estimate of approximately $ 20 million, though that may increase given recent increases in construction costs. The City is also working with Alameda CTC to identify any potential grant funding that could also be leveraged to enable the LATIP funding to be used for additional projects. Depending on the City’s ability to secure additional funding, improvements may also be possible at Winton Avenue.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item provides general support for the Strategic Priority of Invest in Infrastructure: Invest in Infrastructure and enhances goal N6: Continue to add approximate 10 miles of bike lanes annually, with a focus on protected bike lanes and intersections that have high traffic/incidents. The interchange improvements at A Street, once constructed, would provide a protected connection for pedestrians and bicyclists at the interchange and will
integrate with another City project that will produce a conceptual design for improvements along the A Street corridor from Hesperian Boulevard to Mission Boulevard (Project #06942).
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES
This project include s safety improvements that benefit all modes of travel, including completing a gap in the City’s bicycle network under I -880, which may facilitate increased use of these modes of transportation.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public outreach for this project was conducted throughout the development of the preferred alternatives and prior to City Council’s selection of a preferred alternative in 2021.
Alameda CTC and City staff held multiple stakeholder meetings comprised of business owners, Southland Mall management, residents, interested community members, and bicycle advocates throughout the development of the PSR-PDS document.
NEXT STEPS
If approved by City Council, the City Manager will execute a funding agreement with Alameda CTC to contribute $1,350,000 to the PS&E phase of the I-880 A Street Interchange project.
Table 1 identifies the tentative schedule for the project.
Table 1. I-880 A Street Interchange Timeline (Tentative) Expected Completion Date
Complete PA&ED June 2026
PS&E December 2027
Construction 2028-2030
Prepared by: Byron Tang, Principal Transportation Engineer
Recommended by: Alex Ameri, Director of Public Works
Approved by:
_______________________________________________
Jayanti Addleman, Interim City Manager