TO:Andrew P. Powers, City Manager
FROM:Clifford G. Finley, Public Works Director
DATE:November 14, 2023
SUBJECT: Lynn Road Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements (CI 5660)
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Approve Professional Services Agreement with MNS Engineers, Inc., (Thousand Oaks, CA) in a not-to-exceed amount of $1,293,219, plus extra services of $129,481 for engineering and design services of the Lynn Road Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements Project (CI 5660), with a term ending December 31, 2026.
2. Approve budget appropriation transfer in the amount of $134,600 from FY 2024- 25 to FY 2023-24 from A/C #001-5310-631-8300 (CI 5660, Lynn Road Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements Project) to A/C #001-5310-631-8300 (CI 5660, Lynn Road Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements Project).
3. Authorize expenditure in the amount of $1,452,700 ($1,293,219 Agreement, plus extra services of $129,481, and $30,000 City Furnished Materials and Supplies) from the following accounts: $168,200 from A/C #001-5310-631-8300 (General Fund, Lynn Road Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements Project, CI 5660), $25,000 from A/C #136-5310-631-8300 (Pedestrian Safety Fund, Lynn Road Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements Project, CI 5660), and $1,259,500 from AC #183-5310-631-8300 (Grants Fund, Lynn Road Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements Project, CI 5660).
4. Find that this action is not a project as defined under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
$134,600 Increase to Adopted FY 2023-24 General Fund Budget Fully Offset by budget transfer from Adopted FY 2024-25 General Fund Budget. A budget appropriation transfer in the amount of $134,600 from the Adopted FY 2024-25 General Fund Budget to the Adopted FY 2023-24 General Fund is requested for CI 5660. $493,481 is included in the Adopted FY 2023-2025 General Fund
Lynn Rd. Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements (CI 5660) November 14, 2023
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6 Budget, $175,000 in project carryover in Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Fund 136, and $5,213,595 in project carryover in Grants Fund 183, for a total available budget of $5,882,076. The total estimated cost of the project is $9,768,200. Additional grant funding and budget appropriation will be required at the time of the construction contract award anticipated in the Summer of 2026.
BACKGROUND:
The City has an ongoing program to improve mobility for pedestrians and bicyclists throughout the community. City Council adopted the City’s Active Transportation Plan (ATP) on December 10, 2019, which identifies and prioritizes bicycle and pedestrian improvements citywide based on several factors including pedestrian traffic volumes, proximity to schools, and road classifications. In addition, City Council adopted a Local Road Safety Plan (LRSP) on August 31, 2021. The LRSP is a comprehensive traffic safety plan performed by an independent professional traffic engineering firm, which analyzed existing collision data, assessed infrastructure deficiencies, and identified roadway safety solutions citywide. This plan provided the City with a framework to systematically analyze and identify traffic safety concerns. Included in the plan were recommendations for safety improvements throughout the City’s street network, using a data-driven evaluation that focused on causal factors rather than collisions, enabling the City to assess risks before a collision occurs.
On July 20, 2022, staff provided informational status reports to the Traffic and Transportation Advisory Commission (TTAC). Staff informed the TTAC that the City submitted grant applications for ATP Cycle 6 Grant funding and Congested Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Grant funding for the Lynn Road Class IV Bike Lanes and Pedestrian Improvements Project, which is one of the top priority locations on the City’s ATP and LSRP plans. The City has subsequently received Federal grant funding approvals for the project to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety on Lynn Road and to increase and promote the use of active modes of transportation such as biking and walking.
On December 2, 2022, and February 3, 2023, Ventura County Transportation Commission approved $5,288,595 in grant funding for the Lynn Road Class IV Improvements (CI 5660) including $2,511,595 CMAQ Grant, $2,602,000 ATP Cycle 6 Grant, and $175,000 TDA Article 3 (FY 2022-23). On April 25, 2023, City Council authorized the acceptance of these grants and adopted Resolution No. 2023-017 approving Cooperative Agreement No. 07-5302 with the State of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for providing project oversight of the Project Initiation Document (PID) phase of the project within Caltrans right- of-way. The City originally received the authorization of federal funds expenditures in the amount of $721,518 (estimated cost in the grant application) for the design phase of the project on June 27, 2023. Because the actual cost of engineering Lynn Rd. Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements (CI 5660) November 14, 2023
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6 services for the design phase was more than the grant application cost estimate, the City requested additional expenditure of the approved CMAQ Funds in the amount of $867,238 to be transferred from the project construction phase to the design phase. This request was approved on August 2, 2023. The CMAQ Grant funding requires an 11.47 percent City matching fund, and as part of the ATP Grant funding application, the City is committed to providing $100,000 in leveraging local funds.
This project will install new Class IV protected bike lanes throughout the project limits by converting the existing northbound Lynn Road travel lane #3 within the US 101/Lynn Road Interchange (reducing the number of travel lanes to two), converting the existing equestrian trail between Hillcrest Drive and US 101 northbound on-ramp, and existing Class IV buffered bike lanes. In addition, the project will replace the existing US 101/Lynn Road overcrossing barrier on the west side of the bridge with a current standard barrier, install new fencing with LED lighting on both sides of the bridge, and connect incomplete segments of sidewalks on Lynn Road between Gainsborough Road and South Reino Road (Attachment #1). These efforts will improve overall roadway safety.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
On February 15, 2023, staff provided the project background and informational status report to the TTAC. On April 25, 2023, staff provided a Department Report to City Council providing the project overview, concept plans, schedule, and funding sources. Staff received feedback from City Council and incorporated the comments in the Request for Proposals/Qualifications (RFP/Q) to include the study of alternative vertical barrier evaluation and recommendations from the consultant.
Upon completion of the preliminary design and traffic impact analysis, staff will return to City Council to present the consultant-provided evaluation and recommendations. The City requires professional design services from a professional engineering firm to complete the design, surveying, engineering, traffic analysis, and design for the project.
In accordance with Government Code section 4526 and Thousand Oaks Municipal Code section 3-10.401, staff solicited an RFP/Q for the Lynn Road Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements Project. Unlike the low bid requirements of the Public Contract Code, contracts for professional, management, general, or special services should only be awarded to firms or persons who have demonstrated an adequate level of experience, competence, training, credentials, resources, staffing, and other professional qualifications necessary for more than satisfactory performance of the services solicited. The award of a Professional Services Agreement is based upon a variety of factors that demonstrate the best Lynn Rd. Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements (CI 5660) November 14, 2023
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6 value to the City for the solicited scope of service. The cost of the service may be considered as one of those factors; however, the lowest cost is not the sole factor in deciding who will be awarded the contract.
On April 28, 2023, a formal RFP/Q was published in the Thousand Oaks Acorn newspaper and on the City’s e-procurement website for engineering consulting firms to provide the required professional services for the following phases of the project: Phase I PID, Phase II Project Approval/Environmental Documents (PA/ED), Phase III Final Engineering Design and Bid Process, and Phase IV Construction Engineering Support Services. Staff worked with Caltrans to streamline their project approval process and replace the preparation of a PID and a Project Report with a Design Engineering Evaluation Report (DEER), significantly reducing the overall design phase duration and cost. The Cooperative Agreement that the City and Caltrans processed on April 25, 2023, will need to be canceled and replaced with an appropriate updated cooperative agreement which staff will prepare and return to City Council at a later date.
The RFP/Q was sent to over 800 vendors, and a total of 87 vendors downloaded the RFP/Q document. On June 22, 2023, the City received two proposals as follows:
Name Location
1. MNS Engineers, Inc. Thousand Oaks, CA
2. Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. Los Angeles, CA
A team of Public Works staff evaluated the proposals based on the following criteria:
1. Experience with this type of project
2. Key personnel experience with similar projects
3. Project understanding and approach
4. Reasonableness of schedule and estimated level of effort dedicated to complete each task
5. Familiarity with Caltrans project development procedures and federal funding requirements
6. Quality, clarity, responsiveness, and conformance with the RFP/Q After careful review and consideration of the two proposals received, MNS Engineers, Inc. (MNS) was determined to best meet the evaluation criteria for this project. A detailed scope of work and fees have been negotiated and finalized with MNS. MNS has successfully performed engineering and design services for other recent City pedestrian and bicycle improvement projects, including the Willow Lane and Conejo School Road Project.
Lynn Rd. Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements (CI 5660) November 14, 2023
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6 Staff recommends City Council approve the Professional Services Agreement with MNS (Attachment #2) for Phase I - Preliminary Engineering, Phase II - preparing Design Engineering Evaluation Report (DEER) and Environmental Document (ED), Phase III - final Plans, Specifications, and Estimate (PS&E), and construction bid support services of the project. Upon successful completion of these phases, staff will provide a detailed scope of work and will seek City Council’s authorization to amend MNS’s contract to provide professional services for Phase IV - Construction Engineering Support Services of the project.
Below is the preliminary total project cost estimate at $9,768,200. The total available budget is $5,556,795. Additional grant funding (estimated at $2,000,000) and additional budget appropriation (estimated at $1,500,000) will be required at the time of the construction contract award.
PRELIMINARY PROJECT COST SUMMARY
Fund 001 Fund 136 Fund 183 Total
Design (this action) $123,348 $25,000 $1,144,871 $1,293,219 Design Extra Services
(this action)
$ 14,852 $ 0 $ 114,629 $129,481
City Furnished
(this action)
$30,000** $ 0 $ 0 $30,000
Preliminary Design –
Coop. Agreement
(previous action)
$ 0 $150,000 $ 0 $150,000
Right-Of-Way Acquisition
(future action)
$50,000 $ 0 $ 0 $ 50,000
Construction Estimate (future
action)
$709,000 $ 0 $3,906,500 $4,615,500
Unfunded Construction Cost
* (future action) $1,500,000 $ 0 $2,000,000 $3,500,000 Total Costs $2,427,200 $175,000 $7,166,000 $9,768,200
* The City will seek an additional $2M in future grant funding and $1.5M in City funds for the construction of the incomplete sidewalk segments on Lynn Road, as listed in the CIP Budget Book. ** Staff is requesting $30,000 in City furnished materials because of the extensive project duration and unique public outreach needs, including the need for preparing exhibits, reproduction, mailings, and attending in-person Caltrans Project Development Team (PDT) meetings.
Lynn Rd. Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements (CI 5660) November 14, 2023
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6 PROJECT TIMELINE
1. Design Services Award (this action) November 2023
2. Preliminary Engineering and Public Outreach Winter - Summer 2024
3. Traffic Commission - Preliminary Design Review Summer 2024
4. City Council - Preliminary Design Approval Fall 2024
5. Final Design and Caltrans approval Fall 2024 - Spring 2026
6. Federal Fund Authorization for Construction Summer 2026
7. City Council - Construction Contract Award Fall 2026
8. Construction Fall 2026 - Spring 2028
Community Outreach: Staff will develop and implement a public outreach plan for the project, with a particular focus on the businesses located adjacent to the project, as well as the general public. Staff began its public outreach efforts by presenting the project background and an overview of the proposed improvements to TTAC and City Council on February 15, 2023, and April 25, 2023, respectively. These meetings are part of an extensive public outreach effort to provide the public with opportunities for comments on this project. A dedicated project website has been created, www.toaks.co/lynn, where updated project information will continue to be provided throughout the design and construction phases of the project. Various communications tools and strategies, including community meetings (if needed), press releases, website updates, and social media posts will be utilized to inform the public and receive feedback.
This action is not a project as defined under CEQA because this action will not result in a direct or foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment [14 CCR 15060(c)].
This project meets City Council’s Top Ten Priorities #6, “Public Works and Infrastructure Investments.”
CIP PROJECT PRIORITY (as outlined in FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 CIP Program Budget)
Priority Two – Necessary, but not essential, and there could be consequences if deferred.
Lynn Rd. Class IV Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements (CI 5660) November 14, 2023
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6 COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE:
Meets the following City Council goals:
C. Operate City government in a fiscally and managerially responsible and prudent manner to ensure that the City of Thousand Oaks remains one of California's most desirable places to live, work, visit, recreate, and raise a family.
F. Provide and enhance essential infrastructure to ensure that the goals and policies of the Thousand Oaks General Plan are carried out and the City retains its role and reputation as a leader in protecting the environment and preserving limited natural resources.
PREPARED BY: Masoud Razavi, Engineering Associate
Attachments:
Attachment #1 – Vicinity and Location Maps
Attachment #2 – Professional Services Agreement with MNS Engineers, Inc.
DPW: 850-20\ev\H:\Council\2023\111423\CI5660\Lynn Road Bike Lane and Pedestrian Improvements staff report.docx