For City Council Meeting [August 22, 2023]
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Henry Garcia, Interim City Manager
FROM: Timothy Sullivan, Director of Maintenance and Facilities
Title
Request City Council to: 1) Adopt Resolution No. 8131 Accepting the 2023 Active Transportation Program Cycle 6 Grant in the amount of $7,037,000 for the Pacific Electric Trail Extension, Project No. 240801; and 2) Authorize the Interim City Manager to Execute all Related Documents.
(ACTION)
Body
BACKGROUND:
The Active Transportation Program was created by Senate Bill 99 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 359, Statutes of 2013) and Assembly Bill 101 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 354, Statutes of 2013) to encourage increased use of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking. Senate Bill 1 (Beall, Chapter 5, Statutes of 2017) directs additional funding from the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account to the Active Transportation Program (ATP). Along with the program’s overall purpose of encouraging walking and biking, the program aims to increase the share of walking and biking trips, increase safety and mobility for non-motorized users, help regional agencies achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals, enhance public health, ensure that disadvantaged communities fully share in program benefits, and provide a broad spectrum of projects to benefit many types of active transportation users.
On March 16-17, 2022, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) announced the ATP Cycle 6 Call for Projects. ATP Cycle 6 is expected to include approximately $650 million in Federal, State SB1, and State Highway Account (SHA) funding. The funding/programming years are expected to run for four (4) years, from 2023/2024 to 2026/2027.
On May 10, 2022, the City Council authorized the submission of an ATP Cycle 6 Grant Application to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for the Pacific Electric Trail Extension project.
In June 2022, the City of Rialto submitted an application for the ATP funding opportunity in the amount of $7,037,000. The local match proposed for the Pacific Electric Trail Project was $785,000, making the total project cost $7.82 million.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
Pacific Electric Trail Extension Project
The Rialto Pacific Electric Trail Extension is a comprehensive infrastructure and non-infrastructure project that is the direct result of extensive outreach, engagement, data collection, and feasibility analysis conducted as a part of the 2022 Rialto Pacific Electric Trail Extension Feasibility Study, a Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Grant funded project. The City Council adopted the study on April 12, 2022. A copy of the Council report and the study is included as Attachment 1.
The project will create a 1.75-mile extension to the Pacific Electric Trail (PE Trail) network, a heavily used, regionally significant, multi-use path, with a multi-use pedestrian and bicycle trail along a currently blighted rail-to-trail corridor. After it is extended, the PE Trail will form a 21-mile continuous facility for bicycles and pedestrians from Los Angeles County through the heart of San Bernardino County. The project runs through census tracts that qualify under the CTC’s definition of disadvantaged communities. Low vehicle ownership and a high need for active transportation dominate these census tracts. Foothill Boulevard and Merrill Avenue, which are streets bordering the PE Trail, have histories of high bicycle and pedestrian collisions and high traffic stress levels.
The Rialto Pacific Electric Trail Extension will improve the health, safety, and convenience of residents actively commuting and will increase the number of residents who walk and bike. The project will create infrastructure improvements, including a 12ft wide Portland Cement Concrete (Class I) multi-use trail with 2-ft graded shoulders; a 4-ft high barrier fence the full length of the trail, wayfinding signage; pedestrian-scale lighting the full length of the trail; ADA compliant curb ramps and driveways at all street crossings; landscape and irrigation improvements; new and/or modified existing railroad crossing signals; other amenities such as bike racks, hydration stations, and benches, along the trail; and signage and striping per the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CAMUTCD).
Active Transportation Program Cycle 6 Grant
On June 28-29, 2023, the California Transportation Commission adopted the 2023 Active Transportation Program Metropolitan Planning Organization Component Commission Staff Recommendations. The Metropolitan Planning Organizations recommended 134 projects for funding, totaling $539.754 million of Active Transportation Program funding and with total project costs of $936.885 million.
The City’s PE Trail Extension project was one of the recommended projects for funding. A complete list of the approved recommendations, along with other details, can be found in the 2023 Active Transportation Program Metropolitan Planning Organization Component Commission Staff Recommendations, included as Attachment 2.
Staff recommends that the City Council accept the ATP Cycle 6 Grant in the amount of $7,037,000 and approve the related Budget Resolution appropriating the $7,037,000 in funding. Doing so will allow staff to move forward and coordinate with Caltrans’s District Local Assistance Engineer to assist with the Master Agreement, allocation, and authorization process.
The projected schedule for an award of preliminary engineering, design, and construction for this project is as proposed below:
Award of Design November 2023
Plans, Specifications & Estimates (PS&E) October 2024
Right of Way October 2024
Request to Release Bid November 2024
Award of Construction Contract January 2025
Construction Completion April 2026
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
This request is not a “Project” as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Pursuant to Section 15378(a), a “Project” means the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. According to Section 15378(b), a Project does not include: (5) Organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY:
Approval of this action complies with the following City of Rialto General Plan Goals and Policies:
Our City government will lead by example, and will operate in an open, transparent, and responsive manner that meets the needs of the citizens and is a good place to do business.
Goal 2-21: Ensure high-quality planned developments in Rialto.
Policy 2-21.6: Encourage developments to incorporate meandering greenbelts into subdivision projects, particularly along trails, collector streets, secondary streets, and major highways, protected environmental areas, or other special features. Bicycle and pedestrian trails should be connected with similar features in neighboring projects so that upon completion newer neighborhoods will be linked at the pedestrian level.
Goal 4-8: Establish and maintain a comprehensive system of pedestrian trails and bicycle routes that provide viable connections throughout the City.
Policy 4-8.2: Pursue a “rails-to-trails” conversion of the Pacific Electric Railroad right-of-way to a bicycle or multi-use path.
Policy 4-8.6: Coordinate recreational trail plans with neighboring cities and San Bernardino County to ensure linkage of local trails across jurisdictional boundaries and with regional trail systems.
Measure 8.74: Pacific Electric Bike Trail
Pursue funding for construction of the Pacific Electric Bike Trail along the former Pacific Electric Railway right-of-way. Include amenities for bicyclists and pedestrian including lighting, seating areas, bicycle racks, landscaping, and similar features.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed and supports this staff report.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Operating Budget Impact:
The proposed action has no impact to the Operating Budget.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
Staff recommends increasing revenue in the Grants Project Fund Account No. 22234427-47536-240801-20 in the amount of $7,037,000 for the acceptance of the Active Transportation Program, Cycle 6 Grant awarded by Caltrans and $785,000 for the 10% local match in the Measure I Fund, Account 22014310-47586-240801-29 for the acceptance of the Active Transportation Program, Cycle 6 Grant awarded by Caltrans.
Additionally, to appropriate expenditures in the following account Numbers:
• $860,000 in Grants Project Fund Account No. 22234427-53001-240801-01
• $50,0000 in Grants Project Fund Account No. 22234427-53001-240801-04
• $6,127,000 in Grants Project Fund Account No. 22234427-53001-240801-05
• $785,000 in Measure I Fund Account No. 22014310-53001-240801-23
Licensing
This proposed action does not require the application of a business license or payment of a Business License tax.
RECOMMENDATION:
Request City Council to:
1) Adopt a Resolution accepting the 2023 Active Transportation Program Cycle 6 Grant in the amount of $7,037,000 for the Pacific Electric Trail Extension, Project No. 240801; and
2) Authorize the Interim City Manager to execute all related documents.