For City Council Meeting June 11, 2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: G. Michael Milhiser, Interim City Manager
FROM: Timothy Sullivan, Director of Maintenace and Facilities
Title
Request City Council to: 1) Approve a Development Mitigation Cooperative Agreement with San Bernardino County for the I-10/Riverside Avenue Interchange Phase 2 Project; and 2) Authorize the City Manager or their Designee to Execute all Documents.
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Approve a Development Mitigation Cooperative Agreement with San Bernardino County for the I-10/Riverside Avenue Interchange Phase 2 Project; and,
2. Authorize the City Manager or their designee to execute all documents.
BACKGROUND
The City of Rialto, in cooperation with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA), previously coordinated and funded the completion of the I-10 / Riverside Avenue Interchange Project (the “Interchange Project”). On June 3, 2008, the City Council approved a Construction Cooperative Agreement for the I-10 / Riverside Avenue Interchange project with Caltrans and then San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG).
The Interchange Project is located immediately adjacent to an existing Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) bridge crossing - a local bridge owned and maintained by the City of Rialto. This UPRR bridge crossing is located over the Union Pacific West Colton Yard - one of the largest railroad hubs for UPRR. With the understanding that the LA/Long Beach ports move 40% of the nation’s cargo throughout the United States, much of that cargo is offloaded onto rail cars traveling directly through the West Colton Yard and under the City’s UPRR bridge crossing.
During the design of the Interchange Project, decisions were made to construct a narrower overcrossing to “fit” the eastbound I-10 on/off ramps without impacting the immediately adjacent UPRR bridge to the south of the I-10 freeway. This design was based, in part, to minimize the cost of the Interchange Project in that widening the UPRR bridge was estimated to cost as much or more than the Interchange Project. Additionally, at that time the UPRR bridge modification was eligible for funding through the Highway Bridge Program (HBP) based on its assessment at that time by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).
The resulting design decisions for the Interchange Project forced a deficient geometric layout for northbound left turn lanes on Riverside Ave. to I-10, given the tight “fit” required to avoid impacting the UPRR bridge immediately to the south of I-10. However, SBCTA recognized the need to widen the UPRR bridge in the future to further accommodate the northbound left turn lane capacity for the I-10 / Riverside Ave. interchange and identified a “Phase 2” Interchange Project in SBCTA’s 10-Year Plan.
In June 2012, the City completed construction of the I-10/Riverside Ave. Interchange Project, which involved building a new overcrossing for Riverside Ave. on I-10. However, due to the limited space caused by the tight constraints of the eastbound on/off ramps near the Riverside Ave. / UPRR overcrossing and the UPRR right-of-way with its West Colton Yard, a wider overcrossing for Riverside Ave. on I-10 was not feasible as it would have impacted the existing UPRR overcrossing immediately to the south.
On March 6, 2014, the City Council accepted a federal grant in the amount of $116,990 and awarded a Professional Services Agreement to JL Patterson & Associates (JLP) in the amount of $512,414 to proceed with environmental and design services for widening or replacing the UPRR bridge.
JLP commenced work on the design in 2014, and the agreement with JLP was subsequently assigned to their successor - Jacobs Engineering Group (Jacobs) on January 12, 2016.
The first order of work was the development of a Project Study Report (PSR) pursuant to Caltrans requirements. The PSR was to confirm the widening vs. replacement alternative and would justify funding of the project in the HBP. However, detailed technical analysis on the condition of the bridge structure completed by the City as part of the PSR determined that the bridge structure was in better condition than previously assessed by Caltrans, and therefore, based on Caltrans’ evaluation and scoring of bridges for eligibility in the HBP, the project was deemed ineligible for HBP funding.
Meanwhile, in 2021 the City conducted traffic studies to identify Average Daily Traffic (ADT) volumes and truck traffic concentrations in Rialto. These studies confirmed that Riverside Avenue is a vital trade corridor in that the segment from I-10 south has ADT volume of 38,000 vehicles with 7,800 of these trips (over 20%) being trucks serving the logistical warehouses in that area. As a comparison - the latest traffic census data on the Caltrans website for 2020 lists ADT for I-10 between Cedar Ave. and Pepper Ave. at 175,000 with truck trips at 17,700 or 10%.
Based on this data, the number of trucks accessing I-10 from Riverside Ave. is a significant portion of the overall truck trips on the mainline freeway. Moreover, the limiting geometric capacity of the existing I-10/Riverside Ave. interchange cannot accommodate the full volume of truck traffic traveling on Riverside Ave. to I-10 and now leads to traffic congestion at the I-10/Riverside Ave. interchange as the significant volume of truck traffic waits to proceed through the short turn lanes leading to backups both on Riverside Ave. south of I-10 as well as the eastbound off-ramp (causing backup onto the mainline freeway) as traffic congestion clogs the signalized intersection on Riverside Ave. at the I-10 eastbound on/off ramps.
This fact prompted the City Manager to inquire with SBCTA on proceeding with “Phase 2” of the Interchange Project. On October 05, 2021, the City of Rialto submitted a formal request to SBCTA to program funding for the Design and Right-of-Way Phases as part of SBCTA’s Update to its 10-Year Delivery Plan.
The City has identified the “Widening Alternative” as the Preferred Alternative in that replacement of the bridge is not necessary. Under the widening alternative, the bridge will be widened to allow for the extension of the dual northbound left-turn lanes for traffic entering the I-10 westbound on-ramps and related improvements. The total cost estimate to widen the existing UPRR bridge is $33.5 million based on the following phases:
• ROW $2,200,000 (includes environmental mitigation)
• Utility Relocation $2,600,000
• PS&E $2,350,000
• Construction $23,500,000
• Construction Management $2,800,000
On December 1, 2021, in response to the City’s request, the SBCTA Board of Directors approved the Update to the 10-Year Delivery Plan that programmed funding as follows:
• Plans, Specifications and Estimates (Design) Phase; $2,700,607
• Right-of-Way and Utility Relocation (ROW) Phase; $4,452,500
Total Funding Programmed: $7,153,107
On February 22, 2022, the City Council approved a project funding agreement with the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION
In accordance with SBCTA’s Nexus Report for Interchange Projects, SBCTA has a 72.6% share of all eligible costs for this project and will fund $5,193,156 of the costs related to the Design and ROW Phases. The City will be responsible for funding the remaining 27.4% share, which is $1,959,951. However, the SBCTA Nexus Report also shows local shares of 65.9% for Rialto, 26.2% for Colton, and 7.9% for San Bernardino County for the Developer Impact Fee (DIF) funded share.
The City of Rialto and San Bernardino County wish to enter into this Development Mitigation Cooperative Agreement (Agreement) to fund the development mitigation fair-share requirements for the Plans, Specifications and Estimate (PS&E), and Right of Way (ROW).
The County agrees to provide 7.9% ($154,836) of the 27.4% development mitigation funding contribution for PS&E and ROW costs in accordance with the SBCTA Nexus Study, as shown in Table 1 below, which will come from development impact fees or other sources of development contribution as required by the Appendix G and Appendix J of the CMP or from a loan of funds to County’s development impact fee. The Development Mitigation Cooperative Agreement is included in Attachment 1.
Table 1 - Local Development Fair Share Contribution
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Section 21084 of the California Public Resources Code requires Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"). In accordance with the CEQA Guidelines, the City acting as "Lead Agency" pursuant to CEQA, previously completed an environmental analysis of the potential impacts resulting from widening the UPRR bridge. On April 1, 2015, the City of Rialto approved a Notice of Exemption determining that the project was exempt under Statutory Exemption Section 21080.13 of the California Public Resources Code, which allows for an exemption for projects that reconstruct an existing grade separation.
The Project was initially funded, in part, by federal funds, requiring local oversight by the State of California, Department of Transportation (Caltrans). As a federally funded project at that time, the project was subject to environmental review pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). On April 25, 2016, Caltrans, acting as the lead agency pursuant to NEPA, made an environmental determination that the project does not individually or cumulatively have a significant impact on the environment as defined by NEPA and is excluded from the requirements to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA') or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), has considered unusual circumstances pursuant to 23 CFR 771.117(b) and that it qualifies for a Categorical Exclusion under 23 CFR 771.117, activity (c)(27).
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY
This action is consistent with Guiding Principle 3A in the General Plan:
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.
Approval of this action also complies with the City of Rialto General Plan Goal and Policies:
Goal 4-1: Provide transportation improvements to reduce traffic congestion associated with regional and local trip increases.
Policy 4-1.1: Establish and maintain standards for a variety of street classifications to serve both local and regional traffic, including Major Arterial Highways, Major Arterials, Secondary Arterials, Collector Streets, and Local Streets.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney has reviewed the agreement and approved it as to form.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Operating Budget Impact
There is no impact to the Operating Budget.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
Per the term of this agreement, the County agrees to reimburse the City for 7.9% (154,836) of the 27.4% of the PS&E and ROW costs. The revenues will be recorded in Account No. 22234429-47585-140813-28.
Licensing
The proposed action will not require payment of a business license.