City Council
September 20, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: Fred Kelley, Director
City Administrator Oakland Department of
Transportation
SUBJECT: 7th Street Connection Project
Professional Services
DATE: August 22, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Awarding A Professional Services Agreement To Alta Planning + Design, Inc. For An Amount Not-To-Exceed Three Million Two Hundred And Eight Thousand One Hundred And Sixteen Dollars ($3,208,116.00) To Provide Engineering Services For The 7 th Street Connection Project;
And Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Findings.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 7
th Street Connection project (Project) will implement pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and landscape enhancements that aim to close a critical gap in the City’s bicycle network and reconnects West Oakland and Downtown with a safe and welcoming street for people walking, biking, and taking transit. The project reduces vehicle travel lanes and installs protected bicycle lanes, traffic signals upgrades, curb ramps, accessibility enhancements, transit boarding islands, pedestrian refuge islands, sidewalk repairs, and new carbon-capturing street trees. The Project recreates 7th Street with the utmost consideration for the most vulnerable users and will spur a dramatic increase in active transportation between West Oakland and Downtown.
Approval of the proposed resolution will authorize the City Administrator to enter into a professional services agreement with Alta Planning + Design, Inc. to provide engineering services for the 7th Street Connection Project. The services include development of design plans and engineering support during construction for an amount not-to-exceed three million two hundred and eight thousand one hundred and sixteen dollars ($3,208,116.00); and adopting appropriate California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) findings.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
7th Street was once the bustling center of Black jazz and blues culture in the Bay Area. Since the 1950s, the street has undergone cycles of disruption and neglect following construction of the BART overhead trackway and the Cypress Freeway, along with intensifying freight activity from the Port of Oakland. While 7th Street is the main arterial connecting West Oakland with Sep 6, 2022
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: 7th Street Connection Project
Date: August 22, 2022 Page 2
City Council
September 20, 2022
goods, services and employment available in Downtown, it does not currently serve the needs of severely disadvantaged West Oakland community. The four census tracts touched by this project have a median household income of $32,000 and 35% of households do not have access to a car, compared with $68,000 and 17% in the City as a whole.
Today, 7th Street is an overbuilt and underutilized roadway. Divided by a planted median, 7th Street expands from four to six lanes as one travels west towards the I-980 freeway. Aside from two blocks of shared bike lanes between Mandela and Union and a recently completed buffered bike lane between Wood Street and Peralta Street, there are no bike facilities on 7th Street.
The project will close this critical gap in the City of Oakland’s bikeway network and provide a protected Class IV bike lane on 7
th Street connecting West Oakland under the I-980 freeway into Downtown, where it will connect with the existing bike route on MLK Jr. Way.
Throughout several recent planning efforts, including the West Oakland Specific Plan, Oakland Walks! (Oakland’s Pedestrian Plan) and the 2019 Bike Plan Update, disadvantaged community residents in West Oakland have demanded safer connections between West Oakland and Downtown for people walking and biking. The Project not only provides amenities directly within a disadvantaged community, but also improves the connection between that community and the goods and services of Downtown.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Adoption of the proposed resolution will allow the City to move forward with implementing the 7 th
Street Connection Project and advancing four Citywide priorities: (1) housing, economic, and cultural security; (2) vibrant, sustainable infrastructure; (3) holistic community safety; and (4) responsive, trustworthy government.
1. Housing, Economic, and Cultural Security: Walking, biking, transit, and other means of transportation are often cost-effective alternatives to automobiles, which many Oaklanders cannot afford access to. However, lack of safe, attractive, and comfortable facilities may dissuade people from using these cost-effective transportation modes.
The 7
th Street Connection Project will provide the necessary infrastructure to encourage the use of alternative travel modes; the project will increase economic activities in the West Oakland neighborhood by promoting mobility and increasing travel demands.
2. Vibrant, Sustainable Infrastructure: The 7
th Street corridor serves as a major connection
between West Oakland and Downtown Oakland, the Port of Oakland, and West Oakland BART Station. This project invests in bicycle and transit infrastructure to ensure Oaklanders have high-quality, sustainable transportation choices to travel to these major destinations. The improvements transform the corridor into a walk and bike friendly segment that supports the economic vibrancy of West Oakland.
3. Holistic Community Safety: 7
th Street is a heavy volume truck route that currently does not support bicycle activities. The Project helps solve an immediate and pressing safety need by providing a safe bicycle facility that promotes cost-effective transportation modes.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: 7th Street Connection Project
Date: August 22, 2022 Page 3
City Council
September 20, 2022
4. Responsive, Trustworthy Government: In response to discussions with community members, the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) listened and took strides to answer their concerns related to this Project.
In accordance with Oakland Municipal Code (OMC) 2.04.051 and the provisions of the Administrative Instruction 150 for Professional Services Contracts, OakDOT issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for design and engineering services for the project on December 30, 2021, seeking a consultant team most suitable for the proposed project. On February 10, 2022, the City received one (1) proposal from the following Alta Planning + Design, Inc.
A panel of four (4) professionals comprised of staff members from OakDOT’s Complete Streets Design and Great Streets Planning Sections evaluated the proposal. The panelist represented a diversity of race and ethnicity, gender, and professional expertise. The panel scored the proposal based on the following criteria set forth in the RFP:
• Approach to deliver and understanding of the project
• Technical competence
• Project management and communication approach
• Capacity and capability
• Personnel qualifications
• Past record of performance
• Quality assurance and quality control
• Cost proposal details
• Local and small local business preference points
Alta Planning + Design, Inc. was selected as the consultant team.
Alta Planning + Design, Inc submitted Schedule E with twenty-seven-point thirty-two percent (27.32%) Local Business Enterprise and twenty-five-point seventy-four percent (25.74%) for Small Local Business Enterprise for a total of fifty-three-point zero six percent (56.06%) credited Local and Small Local Business Enterprise (LBE/SLBE) participation. Alta Planning + Design, Inc. is Equal Benefits Ordinance (EBO) compliant. Compliance information has been verified by the Workplace and Employment Standards Department (Attachment A).
Staff negotiated the proposed scope of work and fee with Alta Planning + Design, Inc. Upon completion of negotiation, the contract is in the amount of three million two hundred and eight thousand one hundred and sixteen dollars ($3,208,116.00) for a three-year period.
The project is anticipated to begin this winter, and the design to be completed in 2024.
FISCAL IMPACT
The professional services agreement will be funded through Measure KK (Fund 5335), Complete Street Design Organization (35212), 7th Street Connection Project (1006182).
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: 7th Street Connection Project
Date: August 22, 2022 Page 4
City Council
September 20, 2022
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
Staff provided notice to labor representatives, per the terms and conditions of the current Memorandums of Understanding with the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 21, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1021 and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) 1245 prior to issuance of the RFP.
Public Outreach is part of the Capital Contract Equity Initiative for OakDOT. For this professional services RFP solicitation, DOT-Great Streets Delivery Division (DOT-GSD) worked with Oakland Public Works – Capital Contracts Division (OPW-CCD) and the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) on performing public outreach through legal ads, enhanced notifications, and pre-proposal meetings.
Notifications of solicitation were distributed by several means. The first mean was the City’s iSupplier system, which was utilized to notify Oakland-certified local and non-local professional service providers (e.g., landscape architects, architects, engineers, contractors, and planning firms); regional trade and business groups, including the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Oakland Black Board of Trade & Commerce, Bay Area Business Roundtable, and Construction Bidboard. Companies that register in iSupplier wait a few days before receiving access to review proposal requests in this system. If a company enters a North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS code, they are notified about associated opportunities.
In addition to iSupplier and the established disparity outreach list, OPW-CCD also utilizes CIPList.com, a free, web-enabled site to announce and distribute solicitations. It is used to push out notifications to plan rooms and builders’ exchanges such as ARC North America, Builders Exchange of Alameda County, Contra Costa Builders Exchange, Dodge Data & Analytics, East Bay Blueprint, East Bay Blueprint, iSqFT, Northern California Electrical Construction Industry, Peninsula Builders Exchange, San Francisco Builders Exchange, and Solano-Napa Builders Exchange. Through CIPList.com, any company or entity may register to be automatically notified of all City of Oakland solicitations without restrictions.
The legal notice for the RFP was advertised on July 21, 2021. OPW-CCD included printed legal notices in the EastBay Times and Oakland Post. In addition, information about the RFP was published in El Mundo, World Journal, and the Korea Times publications to supplement and ensure the information reaches Local Business Enterprise and Small Local Business Enterprise (LBE/SLBE) in Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities with potential contractors/consultant. The RFP was also sent to subscribers of Active Campaign with over 4,000 recipients.
OPW-CCD held a pre-proposal meeting in partnership with the Workplace & Employment Standards Department and the Project Manager on January 13, 2022, with thirty-one (31) persons in attendance virtually. The meeting served a few purposes: to discuss with potential consultants how contracts are established with the City, to make the attendees aware of possible upcoming work, to allow for opportunities for consultants to network and partner on upcoming work, and to discuss the current RFP solicitation specifically.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: 7th Street Connection Project
Date: August 22, 2022 Page 5
City Council
September 20, 2022
COORDINATION
The Office of the City Attorney, Department of Workplace and Employment Standards, and the Budget Bureau have reviewed this report and resolution.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
Alta Planning + Design, Inc. has participated in helping the City develop similar complete street corridor projects, including the City of Oakland’s 14
th Avenue Streetscape Improvements
Project, which includes 28 curb extensions and buffered bike lanes. In addition, Alta led the City’s Let’s Bike Oakland Bicycle Plan Update (2019) and recently led a re-envisioning of Grand Avenue with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project to better accommodate transit and active transportation along this corridor.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: The Project enhances transportation infrastructure for alternative modes of transportation and provides a viable connection from West Oakland BART station to Downtown Oakland. The consultant is verified for LBE/SLBE participation by the Workplace and Employment Standards Department. The Project will generate business tax, sales tax, and other revenues for the City by those firms who work on the project. Local businesses will be utilized on the project and will benefit directly.
Environmental: The consultant will be required to incorporate the City’s environmental and sustainability design requirements and guidelines into the project, including the new Equitable Climate Action Plan (ECAP), which will continue to support the City’s objective for a sustainable Oakland. As the design proceeds, consideration to address City and Community resiliency will also be reviewed and implemented where applicable.
Race & Equity: The Project will improve local pedestrian and bicycle connection in a Priority Neighborhood according to the OakDOT Geographic Equity Toolbox by providing transportation facilities for West Oakland residents to travel to and from West Oakland BART Station and Downtown Oakland. The project will demonstrate an equity-driven approach to transportation planning and community engagement. The Project will support Oakland and State goals to increase mobility, decrease automobile dependency, increase transit connections, improve air quality, and improve access for high disadvantaged communities in West Oakland.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA)
The Oakland Bicycle Master Plan Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR), initially certified in 2007 and reaffirmed in 2019 via Addendum, found the plan recommendations—including a bike facility on 7
th Street—would result in less than significant impacts under CEQA. The project would have no new or substantially more severe impacts, nor would there be any potentially significant off-site impacts, cumulative impacts, or previously identified significant effects not Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: 7th Street Connection Project
Date: August 22, 2022 Page 6
City Council
September 20, 2022
discussed in previous environmental documents. Also, there are no previously identified significant effects determined to have a more severe adverse impact than those discussed in previous environmental documents.
Furthermore, the project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21080.25(b)(1) (pedestrian and bicycle facilities, including new facilities) and Public Resources Code Section 21080.20.5(a) (restriping of streets for bicycle lanes). The project is also exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15183 (Projects Consistent with a Community Plan, General Plan or Zoning), 15301(c) (Existing Facilities, Highways and Streets), 15302 (Replacement or Reconstruction), 15303 (Small Structures), 15304(h) (minor alterations to land), and/or 15061(b)(3) (No Significant Effect on the Environment). Each of the above exemptions provides a separate and independent basis for CEQA compliance.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Awarding A Professional Services Agreement To Alta Planning + Design, Inc. For An Amount Not-To-Exceed Three Million Two Hundred And Eight Thousand One Hundred And Sixteen Dollars ($3,208,116.00) To Provide Engineering Services For The 7th Street Connection Project; And Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: 7th Street Connection Project
Date: August 22, 2022 Page 7
City Council
September 20, 2022
For questions regarding this report, please contact Jay Zhang, Civil Engineer at (510) 238-2943.
Respectfully submitted,
Fred Kelley
Director, Department of Transportation
Reviewed by:
Amit Salwan, Principal Civil Engineer
Great Streets Division
Si Lau, Supervising Civil Engineer
Complete Streets Design Section
Prepared by:
Jay Zhang, Civil Engineer
Complete Streets Design Section
Attachments (1):
A: Contract Compliance Analysis Memo