STAFF REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
DATE: September 24, 2024
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Dante Hall, City Manager
SUBMITTED BY: Mike Roberts, Public Works Director/City Engineer SUBJECT: Approval of a Funding Agreement between the City of Hercules and Contra Costa Transportation Authority for Cost Sharing Commitments to Design & Construct the Countywide Smart Signals Project RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
It is recommended that the City Council approve the Funding Agreement between the City of Hercules and Contra Costa Transportation Authority for cost sharing commitments to design and construct the Countywide Smart Signals Project and authorize the City Manager to execute the Agreement on behalf of the City Council.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
As was discussed at the March 26, 2024 City Council Meeting, Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) is leading a Smart Signals Project to upgrade traffic signals at 328 intersections throughout the 19 cities and unincorporated communities within Contra Costa County. This work is focused along major arterials that have been designated Routes of Regional Significance.
In Hercules, San Pablo Avenue is the designated Route of Regional Significance. The signals that would receive upgrades include Victoria Crescent East, John Muir Parkway, Market Drive, Sycamore Avenue, and Hercules Avenue.
These designated traffic signals in Hercules are antiquated and lack the technological infrastructure such as proper communications tools (i.e. ethernet), preventing synchronization and coordination between signals. Additionally, they would benefit from signal control technology that can help transit vehicles and alternative modes such as bikes and shuttles move through intersections safely and efficiently.
The Smart Signals Project would install these technologies and yield the following benefits:
Safer Roads: Better emergency response time, easier management of incidents by first responders and law enforcement, and reduction of secondary incidents due to video analytics that can identify near-miss situations.
Smoother Travel: Synchronized, responsive signals can reduce idling at red lights, improve speed management, decrease travel delays, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase transit reliability.
Better Traffic Management: Cities will have access to real-time data that allows for optimization of traffic during incidents, evacuations or other major events. Cities will be able to prioritize transit and emergency vehicles as needed.
Under the Agreement, the City’s share of costs would be 11.47% or $65,091 of the total estimated cost of $567,597 for the improvements while CCTA would be responsible for funding the remaining portion through an OBAG 3 grant. Funding for the City’s portion was included in the Adopted FY 24-25 Budget.
BACKGROUND:
The Smart Signals Project (Project) in Contra Costa County is a CCTA-led countywide project to upgrade traffic signal system and communication systems throughout its 19 cities and unincorporated communities.
Contra Costa County is home to 19 cities/towns and the County, which includes numerous unincorporated communities. There are approximately 1400 traffic signals within the County, including Caltrans-owned signals and various city-owned signals. Most of these traffic signals are located along major arterials, including State Routes, are identified as Routes of Regional Significance (RSS), or can be found along other major and minor arterials in the cities/towns.
The Project will develop, manage, and implement Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) initiatives through upgrades to the existing legacy systems, connecting signal systems throughout Contra Costa County, and enhancing the sharing of real-time information between agencies and the public.
The existing traffic signal systems in most jurisdictions located within Contra Costa County are legacy systems and are outdated or antiquated compared to newer traffic signal systems. These signal systems currently lack the communication infrastructure such as fiber and cellular/wireless-based communication, which makes it difficult to implement traffic signal synchronization and coordination between traffic signals along an arterial. Most corridors do not currently include Signal Control and Prioritization (SCP) technologies to promote transit usage to reduce delay and travel times for transit vehicles and reduce response time for emergency vehicles.
These deficiencies result in severe traffic congestion within the cities/towns and may result in spillover onto freeways and cause a chain reaction of congestion along local arterials. The current system contributes to overall commuter travel times and delays, increases greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption, as well as incidents and collisions. These deficiencies were documented following extensive discussions with the cities and towns regarding traffic signal operation within the Contra Costa County.
Given these deficiencies, CCTA and the Project stakeholders have initially identified the following Project goals: 1) Improve safety and minimize crashes, injuries, and fatalities between motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians; 2) Optimize mobility along major corridors and RRS; and 3) Advance to Smart City and Internet of Things (IOT) solutions.
Project Elements
The Smart Signals project will develop, manage, and implement ITS initiatives that improve the safety and efficiency of multimodal mobility, maximize highway and arterial system throughput, and improve operational efficiency, safety, and reduce environmental impact throughout the county. By upgrading the existing legacy systems and providing interconnectivity throughout Contra Costa County signal systems, the county’s traffic signal systems can be prepared for future emerging technologies, including connected and/or autonomous vehicles, big data, integrated corridor management (ICM), implementation of incident management strategies, and Smart Cities initiatives. These solutions can enhance the sharing of real-time information between agencies and the public using existing and next generation ITS technologies.
The upgraded traffic signal systems and signal interconnect will help smooth traffic flow and ease recurring traffic congestion by expanding mode choice options and reducing travel time on local streets and roads. Upgraded traffic signals will benefit pedestrians and transit commuters by reducing wait times at intersections, improving total travel time for all modes while making transit and pedestrian more viable transportation options. The Smart Signal systems would also improve the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, vulnerable road users, and people with disabilities by deployment of detection systems.
CCTA is applying a Smart Signal approach that will implement ITS equipment including upgraded traffic signal controllers and cabinets, upgraded Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) for each agency to provide remote command and control from a centralized Traffic Management Center (TMC) or Traffic Operations Center (TOC) location, Closed-circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, SCP for transit and emergency vehicles, and vehicle detection systems deployed on predefined designated arterials and state routes. These improvements will provide local cities and Caltrans with day-to-day county-wide traffic management capabilities to address recurrent traffic congestion as well as provide CCTA with information necessary to manage the system during non-recurring traffic congestion (e.g. traffic caused by major incidents on the freeway or during any evacuation efforts).
In sum, the Project’s key features and benefits include but are not limited to the following:
Providing infrastructure for a countywide traffic management system Upgrading local signal controllers and signal system hardware, software, and firmware Deploying bicycle and pedestrian detection software for vulnerable road user protection Providing SCP, including Transit Signal Priority (TSP) and Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP) capabilities Enabling local event management signal timing options
Taking a proactive approach to safety by identifying “near miss” situations for analysis Enabling cities and CCTA to proactively manage day-to-day traffic Enabling cities to proactively manage traffic on local streets that has diverted off the freeway due to a major freeway incident Identifying alternative routes with timing optimized for incident management Allowing shared control and operation, improving cross jurisdictional traffic management Allowing cities/CCTA access to monitor all CCTV cameras and traffic signals for the purpose of optimizing day-to-day operations Deployment of the Smart Signals Project is expected to result in operational and safety improvements for all modes of transportation, such as:
Decrease in travel time,
Decrease in total delay,
Reduction in number of stops
Reduction in secondary accidents
Decrease in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions Promotion of transit ridership
Reduction of response time for emergency vehicles
When operating together, these enhancements increase safety and reliability, and support environmental sustainability, economic development, and equitable access for all travelers.
ANALYSIS:
The signals located at the following intersections in Hercules are included in the Project and are proposed to receive Smart Signal upgrades. (See Table 1 below) Table 1: City of Hercules PROJECT Intersections
LIST OF INTERSECTIONS
Signal No.
Primary Street
Secondary Street
1 San Pablo Ave
Hercules Ave
2 San Pablo Ave
Sycamore Ave
3 San Pablo Ave
Market Dr
4 San Pablo Ave
John Muir Pkwy
5 San Pablo Ave
Victoria Cres E
The recommended upgrades for signals located in Hercules include:
Signal controller firmware updates
Video/Radar detection
Ethernet Over Copper (EOC) for communication between the signals Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras
An Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS)
Traffic signal synchronization, and
Video Analytics.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Hercules’ share of cost under the Agreement is estimated to be 11.47% or $65,091 of the total estimated project cost of $567,597 while CCTA would be responsible for the remaining which they are funding through an OBAG 3 grant they received. City funding for this project was included in the Adopted FY 24-25 Budget Capital Improvement Project funded.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
Approval of this Agreement does not authorize any construction or groundbreaking work and is thus not considered a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) because mere approval of this cost sharing Agreement will not directly or indirectly impact the environment pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378. Further, any work funded by the Agreement, including but not limited to signal work performed within the City of Hercules, is exempt from CEQA review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15301(c) because it involves upgrades and repairs to existing signal and streets that do not involve expansion of use, and pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15304 because in may involve minor alterations to land where surfaces are restored.
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution
Smart Signals Project Agreement
March 26, 2024 Staff Report & Presentation
Financial Impact
Description: Citywide Smart Signals
Funding Source: SB1 Road Maintenance and Repair Account (RMRA) Budget Recap:
Total Estimated cost: $65,091 New Revenue: No
Amount Budgeted: $65,100 Lost Revenue: No
New funding required: No New Personnel: N/A
Council Policy Change: Yes No