DATE: March 17, 2026
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Director of Public Works
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resoluti on Authorizing the City Manager to Accept and Appropriate $300,000 in Highway-Railway Crossing Safety Program (Section 130) Funding from the California Department of Transportation for the Preliminary Engineering Phase of the Tennyson Road Crossing Safety Improvement Project, Project No. 06944 and Execute Amendment No. 2 to the Agreement with California Department of Transportation
RECOMMENDATION
That the City Council adopts a resolution (Attachment II) authorizing the City Manager to accept and appropriate $300,000 in awarded Section 130 funding from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for Tennyson Road Rail Crossing Safety Improvement Project, No. 06944 and execute Amendment No. 2 to the Agreement with Caltrans.
SUMMARY
The Tennyson Road at -grade rail crossing (Project) was identified for funding of safety improvements through the Federal Section 130 funds distributed by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The Section 130 program is a federally funded program administered by the States for the eliminat ion of hazards at highway-rail at-grade crossings. Staff recommends adopting a resolution to accept and appropriate the $ 300,000 Federal Section 130 funding awarded to the City from Caltrans and execute Amendment No. 2 to the Agreement with Caltrans, which would increase the full funding agreement amount to $806,242.46.
FISCAL IMPACT
This item does not impact the General Fund or Measure C. All project expenses will be fully reimbursed through the Federal Railway–Highway Crossings (Section 130 Program) grant.
On, September 17, 20241, via Resolution 24-185 City Council authorized an appropriation of $92,489.34 from Fund 460 – Transportation System Improvement to cover additional consultant costs (Kimley -Horn & Associates). However, due to the award of an additional $300,000 in Section 130 Program funding, this appropriation is no longer needed.
BACKGROUND
On January 23, 20242, Council approved a resolution authorizing the City Manager to accept and appropriate $506,242.46 in Section 130 Program funding for the Preliminary Engineering (PE) Phase of the Project. Staff are requesting City Council to accept and appropriate an additional $300,000 in Section 130 Program funding, increasing the total awarded funding amount to $806,242.46, for the PE phase of th e Project and authorize the City Manager to execute Amendment No. 2 to the agreement with Caltrans.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of the project is to improve multimodal safety at the Tennyson Road at -grade rail crossing. This will be done in multiple ways, through (1) the reduction of queues during peak hours due to the signalized intersection of Whitman Street/Beatron Way and Tennyson Road east of the crossing, (2) improvement of facilities for the significant pedestrian and bicycle traffic at the crossing, (3) improvement of the pedestrian crossing on Tennyson Road near the track, and (4) limiting of trespass activities on the railroad right -of-way near the crossing.
Caltrans has approved this amendment to provide additional funding to cover any remaining project costs for the PE phase.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The road users, including motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists, using the Tennyson Road rail crossing will benefit from a safer and more accessible crossing.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Invest in Infrastructure. Specifically, this item relates to the implementation of the following projects:
Project N1: Continue to implement major corridor traffic calming initiatives.
Project N4: Implement Safe Routes for School, with a focus on Cesar Chavez and Palma Ceia.
1 https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6863979&GUID=3E0DC3DB-7D93-4AD1-B5FC- 6C31FAEA8984&Options=ID|Text|Attachments|&Search=06944
2 https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6484932&GUID=AEC64E78-83BF-4AE3-B852- 25A8335D9E8E&Options=ID|Text|Attachments|&Search=section+130
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES
There are no sustainability features associated with this action.
PUBLIC CONTACT
There is no public contact associated with this action.
NEXT STEPS
If Council approves this request, the City Manager will execute Amendment No. 2 to the Agreement with Caltrans to accept and appropriate $300,000 in Section 130 Program Funding, for a total funding amount of $806,242.46. Once Amendment No. 2 is executed, Section 130 funds will be available to reimburse project costs.
Prepared by: Marissa Matta, Management Analyst
Byron Tang, Principal Transportation Engineer
Recommended by: Alex Ameri, Director of Public Works
Approved by:
_________________________
Jennifer Ott, City Manager