December 5, 2023
Public Works
DATE: December 5, 2023
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Daniel Chavarria, PE, Director of Public Works
Robert Armijo, PE, Deputy Director of Public Works/City Engineer
Ken Cheng, PE, Senior Engineer
Subject:
Smart Signals Project Funding Agreement with Contra
Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA)
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The proposed cost estimate of $1,589,984 to upgrade twenty-one (21) intersection’s traffic signal equipment (which includes design and construction) will be funded directly by CCTA. Matching local funds required in the
amount of $182,336 (minimum 11.47 percent matching
contribution to the grant funds) is proposed from Gas Tax Fund (Account String# 10234431-400708-23044).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
N/A
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Public Works staff is recommending City Council approve the Smart Signal Project Funding Agreement between
the City of Richmond and the Contra Costa
Transportation Authority and allocate matching funds in the amount of $182,336. The proposed project is to
upgrade 21 intersection signalization locations on San
Pablo Avenue and 23rd Street.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a resolution authorizing a Funding Agreement
between Contra Costa County Transportation Authority
(CCTA) and City of Richmond for the allocation of Smart Signals Project funding to City of Richmond for 21
locations; and ACCEPT and APPROPRIATE the
matching contribution of $182,336 from the Gas Tax fund Balance – Public Works Department (Robert Armijo 510-
620-5477/ Ken Cheng 510-621-1612).
AGENDA
REPORT
December 5, 2023
DISCUSSION:
Background
On April 2022, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) solicited an opportunity to upgrade its 19 cities/towns and unincorporated communities’ existing traffic signal infrastructures. CCTA, the lead agency has hired Advanced Mobility Group (AMG), a transportation engineering consultant to manage various project stages which includes, planning, environmental study, design engineering, bidding, construction, and inspection throughout the SMART Signals Project. CCTA and AMG has analyzed existing data, prepared Concept of Operations (ConOps), and prioritized each intersection based on criteria to determine the best candidate for the project. Each stakeholder within Contra Costa County who will be participating in this project is required to provide a local match contribution to CCTA; therefore, CCTA has distributed a proposed funding agreement to each of the cities/towns for approval.
A separate Operation and Maintenance Agreement will be reviewed and negotiated between City staff and CCTA to set forth the responsibilities of each agency to ensure proper level of maintenance for the SMART signal equipment.
A total of twenty-one (21) locations in the City of Richmond – ten (10) locations of which are located along San Pablo Ave and the other eleven (11) locations are located along 23rd Street – have been identified to be included in the project are proposed to receive funding.
Project Schedule
Project Phase Start Date
Planning/Conceptual July, 2022
Environmental Studies (PA&ED) March, 2023
Design Engineering (PS&E) September, 2024
Construction September, 2025
The construction phase of the project is estimated to be eight to ten months in duration.
Existing Conditions
The current state of San Pablo Avenue and 23rd Street intersections, overspill traffic, and congestion from freeways on to local arterial roads have all contributed to increased travel times, delays, increases in greenhouse gas emissions, fuel consumptions, and incidents and collisions. These incidents were documented and extensively discussed among cities and towns within the Contra Costa County.
Solution
December 5, 2023
The benefits of implementing the ITS, the Smart Signal System will decrease travel times, delays, numbers of stops, secondary accidents, reduction in response times for emergency vehicles, and much more. Not only will the City benefit from the described improvements, the City will be prepared for future technological advancement and incident management strategies and enhance the sharing of real-time information between agencies and the public using existing and next generation.
Financial Impact
The CCTA intends to utilize four funding sources throughout the project which includes planning/conceptual, environmental studies, design engineering, and construction.
CCTA’s Measure J will be spent during the planning/conceptual phase, while a combination of One Bay Area Grant – Cycle 3 (OBAG-3) grant and Local Match (City) will be spent on design engineering and finally, a variety of OBAG-3, Local Match, and Local Partnership Program - Formulaic (LPP-F) (California Transportation Commission, CTC) will be for construction.
The Smart Signals project was included as an “unfunded project” in the Adopted FY2023-24 to FY2027-28 Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Budget. City staff is recommending the City Council approve the Funding Agreement between the City of Richmond and Contra Costa Transportation Authority in the amount of $1,589,984 funded from CCTA with a local match required in FY 2023-24 in the amount of $182,336 (minimum 11.47 percent matching contribution to the grant funds). The proposed match would be funded from the Gas Tax Fund (Account string: 10234431-400708-23044).
Environmental Review
The CCTA is the lead agency for this project. The environmental documentation is not currently available and will be prepared in the next phase of the project. At this time, the CCTA anticipates that it will prepare a Categorial Exemption for the project.
Recommendations
City staff recommends the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing a Funding Agreement between CCTA and City of Richmond for the allocation of Smart Signals Project funding to the City of Richmond for 21 locations and to ACCEPT and APPROPRIATE the matching contribution of $182,336 (minimum 11.47 percent matching contribution to the grant funds) from the Gas Tax Fund Balance.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – CCTA and City of Richmond Smart Signals Funding Agreement Attachment 3 – Smart Signals Project Description