City of Sacramento
City Council - 5PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2023-01025 8/29/2023 Consent Item 7.
Discretionary Grant Application: U.S Department of Transportation Reconnecting Communities Pilot and Neighborhood Access and Equity
File ID: 2023-01025
Location: District 2, Represented by Councilmember Loloee Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution: 1) authorizing the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee to submit a grant application to the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant Program (RCN) for federal funding to improve connectivity for barriers caused by Highway 160, mobility, access, and economic development in Old North Sacramento; 2) authorizing the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee to submit any related documents necessary to support the grant application; and 3) authorizing the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee to execute the grant agreements and any related grant documents upon award.
Contact: Casandra Cortez, Transportation Planner, [email protected], (916) 808-6725; Jennifer Donlon Wyant, Transportation Planning Manager, [email protected], (916) 808-5913; David Edrosolan, Transportation Division Manager, [email protected], (916) 808-5974; Department of Public Works Presenter: None.
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Resolution
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Office of the Secretary of Transportation, posted a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) and Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) programs for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24.
Together, this combined program is known as the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) Program. These funds will be awarded on a competitive basis to support planning and capital construction to reconnect communities by removing, retrofitting, or mitigating transportation facilities such as highways and rail lines that create barriers to community connectivity including to mobility, access, or economic development.
File ID: 2023-01025 8/29/2023 Consent Item 7.
City staff have conducted research, hosted a roundtable with community organizations, and had many meetings with community organizations to hear community priorities for which areas of the city are the highest priority and to discuss which would be the most competitive for this program. City staff recommends pursuing a Community Planning Grant application for the Highway 160 area as a barrier to connectivity and mobility. The grant would identify options to improve community connectivity, mobility, access, and economic development for residents, visitors, and businesses in and around Old North Sacramento.
Community Planning Grant applications will be rated on approach to seven merit criteria including Equity and Environmental Justice; Access; Facility Suitability; Community Engagement and Community-based Stewardship, Management, and Partnerships; Equitable Development; Climate and Environment; and Workforce Development and Economic Opportunity. Applications are due September 28, 2023. The maximum award for Community Planning Grant awards is $2 million.
Policy Considerations: The submission of the projects is consistent with the City General Plan goals of promoting safety and enhancing livability, sustainability, and economic vitality. The recommendations in this report are in accordance with the following specific policies from the Sacramento 2035 General Plan:
M 1.3.4 Barrier Removal for Accessibility - The City shall remove barriers, where feasible, to allow people of all abilities to move freely and efficiently throughout the city.
M 4.1.2 Balancing Community, Social, Environmental, and Economic Goals. The City shall evaluate and strive to address community, environmental, and citywide economic development goals when adding or modifying streets, roads, bridges, and other public rights- of-way.
M 4.1.3 Community Outreach - The City shall conduct public outreach to community organizations and members of the general public in corridor planning early in the project development process to identify feasible opportunities to provide community benefits and to lessen any potential impacts of modifications to local streets and roadways.
On March 15, 2022, the City Council adopted Resolution 2022-0079 adopting Transportation Prioritization Criteria, Metrics and Points for Transportation Investments and Funding Opportunities that include Improving Air Quality and Health: Providing Equitable Investment; Providing Access to Destinations; Improving Transportation Safety; and Fixing and Maintaining the System.
Economic Impacts: None.
File ID: 2023-01025 8/29/2023 Consent Item 7.
Environmental Considerations:
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA): The pursuit of grant funds is not subject to the provisions of the CEQA. Under CEQA general rule 15061- B-3, CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. These actions will have no effect on the environment and are therefore not subject to CEQA review.
Appropriate CEQA review for individual projects will take place as part of project development.
Sustainability: The project is consistent with sustainability goals of promoting walking and biking by developing a universally accessible, safe, convenient, integrated, and well-connected transportation system. Transportation is also responsible for 57% of Sacramento’s local greenhouse gas emissions, the single largest sector. Providing safe, walkable, and bikeable transportation alternatives helps to reduce single-occupant vehicle use and contribute towards Sacramento’s climate change goals.
Commission/Committee Action: The City’s Active Transportation Commission reviewed staff recommendations for these grant programs at its March 16, 2023, meeting. At the August 17, 2023, Active Transportation Commission meeting, the Commission forwarded a recommendation to City Council to submit the grant application for “Reconnecting Old North Sacramento.” Rationale for Recommendation: In order to identify the highest priority locations, City staff received input from leaders of community organizations that prioritized SR 99, US 50, and SR 160. After further community input and analysis, City staff recommends SR 160 as the most competitive project area within the City for this grant program. The proposed project best meets the seven merit, meets goals in City policy and programming documents, and project delivery readiness. Staff therefore recommends that the City Council authorize application of a grant for this project.
Financial Considerations: A total of $50 million in grant funding is available nationwide for Community Planning Grants for the Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) . Community Planning Grants have an award maximum of $2,000,000 per awarded grant application. Recipients are required to contribute a local matching share of no less than 20 percent. If funded, local transportation funds have been identified and will be allocated for local contribution requirements.
Staff will return to City Council for any necessary budget adjustments and other actions if grants are awarded.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
Background: The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) posted a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for projects nationwide to solicit applications for two funding opportunities: The Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Program and the Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) Program. The RCP/NAE opportunity is housed within the Reconnecting Communities and
File ID: 2023-01025 8/29/2023 Consent Item 7.
Neighborhoods (RCN) program. Applicants may apply to one or both funding opportunities.
The Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) Grant Program was established by Section 24112 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58, November 15, 2021; also referred to as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” or “BIL”). Administered by the USDOT, Office of the Secretary of Transportation, the purpose of the RCN grant program is to advance community -centered connection projects, with a priority for disadvantaged communities, that improve access to daily needs such as jobs, education, healthcare, food, and recreation, and foster equitable development and restoration and to provide technical assistance to further these goals.
The RCP Program provides technical assistance and grant funding for planning and capital construction to address infrastructure barriers and restore community connectivity. The RCP program provides funding for two types of grants: Community Planning Grants and Capital Construction. Community Planning Grants fund the study of removing, retrofitting, or mitigating an eligible transportation facility to restore community connectivity; to conduct public engagement; and other transportation planning activities. Capital Construction Grants are to carry out a project to remove, retrofit, mitigate, or replace an existing eligible facility with a new facility that reconnects communities. The proposed project must address an “eligible facility,” which is defined as a highway or other transportation facility that creates a barrier to community connectivity, including barriers to mobility, access, or economic development, due to high speeds, grade separations, or other design factors. Eligible facilities include limited access highways, viaducts, any other principal arterial facilities, and other facilities such as transit lines, rail lines, gas pipelines, and airports.
Successful grant applications will address seven merit criteria including Equity and Environmental Justice; Access; Facility Suitability; Community Engagement and Community-based Stewardship, Management, and Partnerships; Equitable Development; Climate and Environment; and Workforce Development and Economic Opportunity.
A total of $1 billion has been appropriated to the RCP program for FY 2022-2025, with up to $50 million available for Planning Grants in each FY. Planning grant awards have a maximum of $2 million. The grant will require a local match contribution of 20 percent that cannot be funded with other federal funds. RCP/NAE grant applications are due by September 28, 2023. Staff recommends the following project for submission for the RCN grant program:
Highway 160: Highway 160 presents a barrier to community connectivity, mobility, access, and economic development for residents, visitors, and businesses in and around Old North Sacramento.
Old North Sacramento’s central corridor, Del Paso Boulevard, was a thriving neighborhood commercial corridor, one of the most travelled corridors in Northern California surrounded by middle to upper class neighborhoods in the mid-twentieth century. The area had one of the highest median incomes in the area, second to Land Park.
In 1955, construction of Highway 160 diverted traffic from Del Paso Boulevard onto the highway, creating a physical and economic barrier between Old North Sacramento and the City of Sacramento (a different city at the time). Research has shown when Highway 160 was constructed, businesses
File ID: 2023-01025 8/29/2023 Consent Item 7.
located in and around Del Paso Boulevard were negatively financially impacted. The businesses along the boulevard continue to struggle to this day, unable to capture walking, bicycling, or driving traffic.
In addition to the negative impacts to what was a thriving commercial corridor, Highway 160 presents a barrier for people walking and bicycling from Old North Sacramento to the American River Parkway, regional retail, and the Central City.
RESOLUTION NO.
Adopted by the Sacramento City Council
Date
Discretionary Grant Application: The U.S Department of Transportation Reconnecting Communities Pilot and Neighborhood Access and Equity
BACKGROUND
A. The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023/24 Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) Grant Program. Applications are due September 28, 2023. Planning Grant awards have a maximum of $2 million for each project.
B. On March 15, 2022, the City Council adopted Resolution 2022-0079 adopting Transportation Prioritization Criteria, Metrics and Points for Transportation Investments and Funding Opportunities that include Improving Air Quality and Health: Providing Equitable Investment; Providing Access to Destinations; Improving Transportation Safety; and Fixing and Maintaining the System.
C. Staff reviewed the guidelines for the grant program, considered necessary steps to achieve the transportation mode shift to more sustainable modes such was walking, bicycling, and transit; to achieve the City’s Climate Action Goals; and to remove barriers and allow people of all abilities to move freely and efficiently throughout the city. Based on this analysis, Highway 160 and Old North Sacramento, also known as Reconnecting Old North Sacramento, was selected to be the most competitive for the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) Grant Program.
BASED ON THE FACTS SET FORTH IN THE BACKGROUND, THE CITY COUNCIL RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Reconnecting Old North Sacramento is approved for submission to the USDOT FY2023/24 Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant Program for up to $2 million.
Section 2. The City Manager or the City Manager’s designee is authorized to submit any related documents necessary to support the grant applications.
Section 3. The City Manager or the City Manager’s designee is authorized to execute the grant agreements, amendments, and any related grant documents upon award of the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant Program.