STAFF REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
DATE: Regular Meeting of July 9, 2024
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Dante Hall, City Manager
SUBMITTED BY: Michael Roberts, Public Works Director/City Engineer SUBJECT: Hercules Hub – Resolution of Support for Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program Grants RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Adopt a resolution of support for the filing of joint Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) grants with the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) as the lead agency.
BACKGROUND:
The Hercules Hub (The Hub) will create a regional, state-of-the-art housing and transportation community on the waterfront overlooking the San Pablo Bay. The Hub will connect thousands of housing units with a new train stop along the Capitol Corridor, bicycle and pedestrian pathways, bus routes, carpool options, and ferry service. The Project would relieve congestion on I-80 and reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and greenhouse gas emissions. It also provides the community of Rodeo, an Equity Priority Community, with an easy sub-10-minute bike ride to The Hub’s rail station via the Bay Trail.
The Project has NEPA and CEQA approvals and the City has completed the first three construction phases. In 2019, the City succeeded in advancing the Let’s Get I-80 Moving initiative, which resulted in CCJPA’s decision to grant Candidate Station Status to the Hub in Hercules. In 2020, the City completed the interim bus improvements on Bayfront Boulevard to allow buses to serve the area.
The next three phases to be implemented are the utility relocations, the track and platform improvements, and the station work; pursuit of grant funding to support these phases is vital to project delivery.
To date, this new facility boasts $46M in capital improvements, and the City is fully engaged in securing the funding needed to design and construct the remaining infrastructure that will allow the Capitol Corridor train to serve the Hub. Through the development and implementation of a Project Funding Plan, the City has recently secured over $4M in federal, state and regional funding. This includes $2.4M awarded from Cycle 6 of TIRCP via a joint application with CCJPA. Additional joint TIRCP applications will be occurring in the future and could further close the remaining funding gap and help bring the project to fruition.
ANALYSIS:
Staff and the City’s consultant team, including GBS and Eric Zell & Associates, worked closely with CCJPA to develop the recent TIRCP Cycle 6 application which resulted in a $2.4M award for the hub. CCJPA was the lead applicant and other agencies participated as well.
After this successful TIRCP Cycle 6 application, CCJPA has invited the City to participate in the TIRCP Cycle 7 application for additional design phase funding. The CCJPA TIRCP team has not finalized the partnering agencies or the respective grant amounts for the Cycle 7 application as the competitiveness of the application is largely determined by GHG reduction calculations provided by construction projects and participants. Given the number of agencies involved in these joint applications, it’s not unusual for there to be last-minute changes.
It is anticipated that the City will be partnering on other future TIRCP applications. Given the dynamic nature of this process, staff is recommending the approval of a general resolution of support for future joint TIRCP applications where CCJPA is the lead so the City can have the necessary resolutions on hand needed to participate and make the most of opportunities as they arise.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this recommendation.
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution of Support for Joint TIRCP Grant Application Date Page 1