Item Number: 8
City Council / Board of Directors
Written Communications
Meeting of: September 2, 2025
Submitted By:
Fredy Bonilla, City Engineer
Subject:
Budget Amendment for Highway Safety Improvement Program Grant and Measure I Funds for the Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons at Nine School Crosswalks Project Recommendation:
That the Honorable City Council adopt Resolution No. 25-066 to amend the Fiscal Year 2025/2026 Budget appropriating an additional $149,310 in revenue and expenditures from the State of California’s Highway Safety Improvement Program, and $465,000 in additional revenue and expenditures from Measure I funds, for the Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons at Nine School Crosswalks Project.
Fiscal Impact:
The recommended action will appropriate an additional $149,310 in grant revenue and authorize $614,310 in expenditures from grant and Measure I funds to cover the estimated construction costs associated with the project. Resolution No. 25-066 (Attachment A) amends the budget to reflect additional revenue and expenditures associated with the Highway Safety Improvement Program (“HSIP”) state grant fund and Measure I fund accounts established for the project. Sufficient funds are available in Measure I to support the additional budget appropriation and expenditure; the current cash balance of Measure I is estimated at $6,459,887. Table A below lists the account numbers for HSIP grant (Fund 270) and Measure I (Fund 250), along with additional appropriation amounts and the total budget appropriated from each account for the project:
Table A
Account Codes Fund
Name
Additional
Appropriation
Expense
Budget
Total Budget
2704500-43110-62071 Grant $149,310
2704500-55330-62071 Grant $149,310 $149,310
2504500-55330-62071 Measure I $465,000 $465,000 $465,000 Total: $614,310 $614,310 $614,310
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Strategic Plan Goal:
This project aligns with “Goal E Invest in Infrastructure” in the City of Victorville Strategic Plan 2023-2026, Strategy 11, “Continue seeking funding to invest in expanding, improving, and preserving our roadway system” by obtaining additional grant funding for crosswalk safety improvements.
Background:
Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (“RRFBs”) are pedestrian-activated traffic safety control devices that use flashing, high-intensity a light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to alert vehicular traffic of pedestrians at marked crosswalks. RRFBs consist of two rectangular, yellow LED lights mounted on a pole with a crossing pedestrian warning sign. The beacons remain dark until a pedestrian presses a button to activate the flashing lights that present an irregular pattern that commands driver attention to the sign. These systems increase the likelihood of drivers seeing and yielding to pedestrians at a marked crosswalk. They are typically found at marked crosswalks located near schools, parks or outdoor lifestyle/outlet shopping centers intermixed with pedestrian friendly streets. The City of Victorville currently operates and maintains nine (9) crosswalk locations equipped with RRFBs across the City and would like to expand that number. Please refer to Attachment B Vicinity Maps which includes a map showing the existing and proposed RRFB locations. Please refer to Attachment D City Standard No. T-2 which is the current standard for new RRFB installations and Attachment E a picture of an existing RRFB near Morgan Kincaid Preparatory School.
The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), administered by Caltrans, provides grant funding for traffic safety improvement projects including but not limited to RRFBs.
The focus of the HSIP is on infrastructure projects with nationally recognized crash reduction factors. HSIP projects must be identified on the basis of crash experience (traffic accidents), crash potential, crash rate, or other data supported means.
The City has received grant funding for several HSIP projects in the past, including:
Guardrail replacements at 13 locations
A new traffic signal at Village Drive / Tawney Ridge Lane A new traffic signal at Mojave Drive / Condor Drive
Upgrades to traffic signals at five (5) intersections on Seventh Street The installation of retroreflective tape on the City’s traffic signals A new traffic signal at Village Drive / Puesta Del Sol Drive In September of 2022, City staff submitted applications to Caltrans for four (4) projects for the Cycle 11 HSIP Call for Projects. On March 9, 2023, Caltrans notified the City that three (3) projects were selected for HSIP grant funding. The projects included a new traffic signal at the intersection of Village Drive and Puesta Del Sol Drive, the installation of RRFBs at nine (9) school crosswalks, and the installation of Retroreflective Borders for Backplates of 96 Traffic Signals.
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At the regular City Council meeting of May 2, 2023, staff presented the projects to the Council for approval and recommended California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Notices of Exemptions (“NOEs”) be approved for each location. The Council accepted the proposed projects and approved the NOEs. Two of the three projects, the traffic signal on Village Drive and the retroreflective borders for backplates have progressed into construction and are nearing completion, leaving the installation of the RRFBs.
At the regular City Council meeting of August 19, 2025, staff presented the Measure I 5- Year Capital Improvement Plan for approval. Included in the Measure I plan is a project called: Concrete Access Ramps - various locations. This project is duplicated each year, budgeted and used by Public Works for in-house work for the replacement of curb ramps.
The approved FY 2025/2026 budget for this project totaled $110,000. After the FY budget was approved, additional funding was identified for the RRFB project to replace existing curb ramps at nine locations. As a result, Engineering included an additional $465,000 for curb ramp replacements to inform SBCTA of the intended use of the funds. With the additional Measure I expenditures proposed in the Measure I 5-Year Capital Improvement Plan, a budget amendment is required to allocate the added funding for the RRFB project.
Discussion:
The Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons at Nine School Crosswalks Project HSIP application was submitted with the intent of installing 19 units at nine crosswalk locations by in house staff. Please see Attachment B including a vicinity map, showing the existing and proposed locations across the City. Following notification that the project was selected for funding and subsequent Council approval, staff began preparations to advance the project toward construction. This work required the preparation of project plans and specifications by Engineering Staff.
During the preparation of the plans to install the RRFBs, ADA accessibility concerns at each intersection were identified requiring the removal and replacement of non-compliant curb ramps to meet current City and federal ADA standards. This additional work was not included in the grant application scope of work, therefore the City became responsible for planning the removal and replacement of the curb ramps and funding the construction costs as no additional grant funding could be made available through the HSIP grant.
Furthermore, the additional scope of work exceeds the City’s ability to complete the project without the solicitation of construction services from a qualified contractor. The Engineer’s estimate for the additional scope of work for a contractor to remove and replace existing concrete curb ramps was determined to be $465,000. Traffic Engineering operations staff will still be responsible for installing the RRFBs after a contractor is awarded a contract to install pole foundations and reconstruct the curb ramps at each location.
Project plans and specifications for the work with an allocation request of State funding in the amount of $149,310 from the HSIP was submitted to Caltrans in May 2025. On August 6, 2025, the Department of Transportation notified the City that the funding allocation request was approved, and the project could proceed to construction.
Attachment C includes the grant award letter and approval of the funding letter. 4 2
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To advance the project to the next phase of development, which includes advertisement of the work and construction, staff recommends that the Honorable City Council adopt Resolution No. 25-066 to amend the Fiscal Year 2025/2026 Budget appropriating an additional $149,310 in revenue and expenditures from the State of California’s Highway Safety Improvement Program, and $465,000 in additional revenue and expenditures from Measure I funds, for the Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons at Nine School Crosswalks Project.
Staff is available for any questions Council may have.
Prepared By:
Harry Mayo, Senior Civil Engineer
Attachments: A. Resolution No. 25-066
B. Vicinity Maps
C. Grant Award and Funding Approval Letter
D. City Standard No. T-2
E. Picture of an installed RRFB