Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
RECOMMENDATION
AGENDA REPORT
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Adopting A List Of Projects To Be Implemented With Road Maintenance And Rehabilitation Account Funds In Fiscal Years 2023-24 And Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) requires jurisdictions to annually submit documentation that California Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) funds are adopted for eligible local streets and roads purposes. The CTC also requires the submission of a list of projects with each project’s title, description, location, estimated schedule, and estimated useful life proposed to be funded with RMRA funds during each Fiscal Year (FY).
This proposed resolution adopts a project list for the City of Oakland (City), including the information to meet the CTC’s requirements. The proposed use of RMRA funds is for local street maintenance fulfilled through service requests consistent with the City’s Paving Plan and Capital Improvement Program (CIP), which set forth the prioritization plan for maintenance and rehabilitation of local streets.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
On April 28, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1 to address basic road maintenance, rehabilitation, and critical safety needs on state highways and on local streets. SB 1 increases per gallon fuel excise taxes, diesel fuel sales taxes, vehicle registration fees, and regularly adjusts these tax increases based on inflation. The RMRA distributes funds to eligible cities and TO: Steven Falk FROM: Fred Kelley
Interim City Administrator Director, Oakland
Department of
Transportation
SUBJECT: 2023-24 Road Maintenance and
Rehabilitation Account Annual Project
List
DATE: May 8, 2023
City Administrator Approval Date:
May 11, 2023
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: 2023-24 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account Annual Project List Date: May 8, 2023 Page 2
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
counties for basic road maintenance, rehabilitation, and critical safety projects on the local streets and roads system.
This is the seventh year in which the City is receiving SB 1 RMRA funding. SB 1 requires cities and counties to annually submit documentation to show that RMRA funds were specifically adopted for eligible local streets and roads purposes, and also requires the submission of a list of projects proposed to be funded with RMRA during the fiscal year. For the previous six years, the City Council has successfully received approval from the CTC for the City’s annually adopted RMRA project lists (Resolution Nos. 89215 C.M.S., 88684 C.M.S., 88122 C.M.S., 87651 C.M.S., 87159 C.M.S., and 86917 C.M.S.).
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Under CTC’s requirements, RMRA funds shall be prioritized for expenditure on basic road and maintenance and rehabilitation projects and on critical safety projects. The proposed use of RMRA funds in the City for FY 2023-24 is for maintenance and rehabilitation of local streets, including personnel costs to complete this work, as well as operation costs for street lighting and traffic control devices (see proposed project list in Table 1). Consistent with the City’s approach for the previous six years, RMRA funds will provide support for ongoing maintenance activities such as Citywide pothole and concrete repair. By maintaining state of repair of City streets and sidewalks and operations of City lighting and traffic control devices, the proposed project list will help advance the following Citywide priorities: holistic community safety and vibrant, sustainable infrastructure.
Table 1 Proposed Project List; RMRA FY 2023-24
Name Brief Description Location Estimated Useful
Life
Estimated Project
Schedule
Local Street
Maintenance
Maintenance of City
streets including
potholing, patching,
concrete repair, etc.
Citywide based on
cyclical maintenance
program and service
requests
Minimum: 1 year
Maximum: 5 years
FY 2023-24
Lighting/
Electrical
Operations
Operations of street
lighting and traffic
control devices for
public streets
Citywide 1 year FY 2023-24
RMRA funding also supports salaries of filled positions; these staff are frontline workers who deliver essential services for Oaklanders. A breakdown of the staff positions funded by RMRA is included in Table 2 below:
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: 2023-24 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account Annual Project List Date: May 8, 2023 Page 3
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
Table 2 Proposed Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Staff Funded by RMRA FY 2023-24
Job Title Number of FTE
Accountant III 1.00
Administrative Analyst II 1.00
Collections Officer 0.50
Concrete Finisher 1.00
Construction Inspector (Field) 1.00
Heavy Equipment Operator 1.67
Management Assistant 1.00
Public Works Maintenance Worker 5.55
Public Works Operations Manager 0.60
Public Works Supervisor I 1.70
Public Works Supervisor II 1.75
Street Construction & Maint Planner 1.00
Street Maintenance Leader 3.58
Traffic Painter 0.90
Traffic Sign Maker 0.90
Transportation Planner II 1.00
Engineer, Transportation Supervising 1.00
Accountant III 1.00
Administrative Analyst II 1.00
Collections Officer 0.50
Concrete Finisher 1.00
Construction Inspector (Field) 1.00
Total 25.15
Staff use RMRA funding to complete priority service requests. These requests are submitted by members of the public via OAK311—which receives requests by phone, e-mail, website submission and a free SeeClickFix-powered mobile app for Apple and Android devices.
Maintaining and rehabilitating the City’s local streets will enable the City to meet the goals stated in the 2022 5-Year Paving Plan, which prioritizes streets for repaving using citywide data such as priority neighborhoods, street condition and traffic safety.
Until a budget and project list are adopted, the City is unable to receive RMRA disbursements from the State Controller’s Office for FY 2023-24. In FY 2023-24, City disbursements are estimated to total $10,707,423 based on State Department of Finance statewide revenue projections as of January 2023.
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: 2023-24 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account Annual Project List Date: May 8, 2023 Page 4
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA)
Per CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 – 15332, road maintenance activities such as pothole and concrete repair are categorically exempt under CEQA as a Class I: Existing Facilities exemption.
FISCAL IMPACT
Adoption of this project list will allow the City to collect an estimated $10,707,423 in RMRA funding in FY 2023-24 to be used on local street maintenance and rehabilitation activities.
Projects will be funded in-part or solely with FY 2023-24 RMRA revenues that shall be allocated in Fund (TBD); Organization (TBD); Project (TBD). There is no local match required for this funding source. Without RMRA funding, completing maintenance of local streets, operating lighting and traffic control devices, and supporting salaries of filled frontline City positions would require the City to use other fund sources such as Measure KK Infrastructure Bond and/or Measure BB Transportation Sales Tax. Using RMRA funds to augment existing funds extends the City’s ability to finance needed maintenance and operations. Implementation of these projects will have a net positive fiscal impact on the City by funding infrastructure rehabilitation and reducing future maintenance backlog.
In addition, this resolution will allow Oakland Department of Transportation and Oakland Public Works to efficiently work together to fulfill service requests. This added efficiency is important to completing maintenance activities in a timely manner, as fulfilling service requests often requires the Department of Transportation to transfer RMRA funds to Oakland Public Works to collaboratively complete the work.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
The Oakland Department of Transportation maintains a list of prioritized street maintenance needs and collects community requests through OAK311 to ensure that RMRA funding is used on the highest priority projects. Maintenance and rehabilitation of local streets is a recurring community priority that has been raised in the community engagement for the FY 2019-21, FY 2021-23, and FY 2023-25 CIPs. The Oakland Department of Transportation has received more than 70 community requests for street maintenance and rehabilitation projects through the CIP public project intake process. These CIP requests complement the OAK311 service requests that the Oakland Department of Transportation receives from community members regarding potholes and local street deterioration, and RMRA funding supports the fulfillment of such maintenance requests.
COORDINATION
This report and legislation have been reviewed by the Office of the City Attorney and the Budget Bureau.
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: 2023-24 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account Annual Project List Date: May 8, 2023 Page 5
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
S
USTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: RMRA funds are dedicated to improving local streets and roads, benefitting travel between home, work, and other destinations. Completing local street maintenance reduces the backlog of maintenance needs, and thereby reduces future maintenance costs. Additionally, maintaining street lighting supports commercial areas and encourages improved perceptions of personal safety.
Environmental: RMRA funds benefit all transportation modes, including more sustainable active transportation modes, by improving road surfaces for bicyclists, transit riders, and auto drivers, as well as improving sidewalks for pedestrians. By providing safer and more comfortable routes for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit access, RMRA funds will support active transportation modes, which are more energy-efficient and emit less greenhouse gas emissions than driving single occupancy vehicles.
Race & Equity: RMRA funds are distributed throughout the City and benefit all Oaklanders. At the same time, both the 5-Year Paving Plan and CIP implementation prioritize locations based on equity indices such as priority neighborhoods and traffic safety. While certain barriers exist for Oaklanders to access the City’s 311 and CIP request-based models, the Oakland Department of Transportation and Oakland Public Works have worked to conduct outreach to underrepresented communities, including non-English speaking Oaklanders and Oaklanders in West, East, and Deep East Oakland. Maintaining fair infrastructure conditions is essential to avoiding inequitable impacts to high priority equity communities.
Steven Falk, Interim City Administrator
Subject: 2023-24 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account Annual Project List Date: May 8, 2023 Page 6
Public Works & Transportation Committee
May 23, 2023
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Adopting A List Of Projects To Be Implemented With Road Maintenance And Rehabilitation Account Funds In Fiscal Years 2023- 24 And Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Craig Raphael, Funding Program Manager, at 510-238-7229 or [email protected].
Respectfully submitted,
Fred Kelley
Fred Kelley (May 9, 2023 14:17 PDT)
FRED KELLEY
Director
Department of Transportation
Reviewed by:
Wladimir Wlassowsky
Acting Assistant Director
Department of Transportation
Cr
aig Raphael
Funding Program Manager
Department of Transportation
Prepared by:
Yvonne Chan
Transportation Planner II
Department of Transportation