For City Council Meeting [June 13, 2023]
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Arron Brown, Acting City Manager
FROM: Tim Sullivan, Director of Maintenance and Facilities
Title
Request City Council to: 1) Authorize the Submission of Grant Applications to the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority for the Transportation Development Act Article 3 Funds for the Frisbie Middle School SRTS Project and Bemis Elementary SRTS Project; and 2) Authorize the City Manager to Execute all Related Documents.
Body
BACKGROUND:
On May 3, 2023, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) Board authorized the release of the Transportation Development Act (TDA) Article 3 Call for Projects for Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities projects and Transit Access Improvement Projects. Local jurisdictions and transit agencies were notified of this opportunity through SBCTA’s website and Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC) email list. The amount of Article 3 funds anticipated to be available for the award is $5,760,000 for bicycle and pedestrian projects. The closing date for the Call for Projects is July 7, 2023. Article 3 identifies multiple potential projects that are outlined below.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects ($5,760,000 total available)
• Construction or reconstruction of bicycle facilities tracks and/or sidewalks.
• Retrofitting of existing facilities for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance.
• Purchase and installation of bicycle facilities such as securing bicycle parking, lockers, racks, benches, drinking fountains, changing rooms, restrooms, and showers adjacent to major employment centers, park-and-ride lots, and transit terminals.
• Maintenance of existing Class I facilities (no more than 10% of the available funds for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Call for Projects can be allocated to the maintenance of existing facilities).
• Route improvements such as signal controls for cyclists, bicycle loop detectors, rubberized trail crossings, and bicycle-friendly drainage grates.
Transit Access Improvement Projects ($1,440,000 total available)
• Web-based mapping, photography, or other visual imagery to provide information on stop accessibility to transit system users.
• Retrofitting sidewalks with accessibility ramps to improve access to existing bus stops.
• Construction of bus stop pads, including pads for bus shelters, and installation of bus shelters, benches, trash receptacles, and solar lighting at existing or new bus stop locations.
• Construction of new sidewalks to serve existing or new bus stop locations.
• Purchase of bus shelters, benches, trash receptacles, and solar lighting at new/existing bus stop locations.
Rialto’s Safe Route to School Plan
On August 25, 2015, the City Council accepted the Active Transportation Program grant funds for $1,450,000. On February 23, 2016, City Council awarded a Professional Service Agreement (PSA) with Alta Planning + Design (Alta) for $1,121,420 to develop the Active Transportation Program, Safe Routes To School Program Plan. Alta and project sub-consultants have completed three (3) years of SRTS education, encouragement, enforcement, evaluation, and engineering tasks at the 29 project schools throughout the City of Rialto. Alta has issued various reports detailing assessments, findings, recommendations, and prioritization of improvements and activities relating to the SRTS Plan. City Council approved the infrastructure prioritization report issued by Alta on April 10, 2018. On June 11, 2019, the City Council approved the SRTS Plan.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
The City’s approved SRTS Plan has successfully guided investments in non-motorized transportation facilities and related programs in Rialto.
Staff recommends pursuing improvements at Frisbie Middle School and Bemis Elementary, as these locations are designated high-priority segments in the SRTS plan.
Both projects propose the design and construction of traffic calming striping, pedestrian crosswalk control devices, and other traffic calming measures. Improvements will help to provide connectivity between the neighborhoods where students live and where their respective schools are located and help mitigate pedestrian and bicyclist exposure to vehicles. With the construction of these proposed improvements, the City can expect to see increases in the number of students walking and biking to school and improved safety for all walkers and bikers within the community.
The Approved Engineering & Operational Improvement Maps for the Frisbie Middle SRTS Project and Bemis Elementary SRTS Project are included as Attachments 1 and 2.
This grant program requires a minimum local match of 10%. However, overmatching is encouraged and provides additional application points. The maximum number of points in the evaluation criteria is 25 points, which can be obtained through a Local Match amount of 75% or higher. Staff recommends the use of Measure I Funds as the Local Match. If the City is successful, staff will return to the City Council for authorization to accept the grant, approval of appropriations, and to include the selected project in the Measure I CIP 5-Year Expenditure Strategy in the corresponding year.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
The proposed 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.
Approval of this action also complies with the City of Rialto General Plan Goal and Policies:
Goal 3-11: Provide community facilities that adequately support established programs, can accommodate future needs, and are accessible to all members of the community.
Goal 3-11.1: Allocate resources for the maintenance and operations of City facilities; explore alternative funding options for maintenance and operational costs of new facilities.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed and supports this staff report.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Operating Budget Impact
This action has no impact to the Operating Budget.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
This grant program requires a minimum local match of 10%. However, overmatching is encouraged and provides additional application points. The maximum number of points in the evaluation criteria is 25 Points, which can be obtained through a Local Match amount of 75% or higher.
Staff recommends the use of Measure I funds as the Local Match. If the City is successful, staff will return to Council for authorization to accept the grant and approval of appropriations and to include the selected project in the Measure I CIP 5-Year Expenditure Strategy in the corresponding year.
Licensing
Approval of this action does not require the payment of a business license tax.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff requests that the City Council:
1) Authorize the submission of grant applications to the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority for the Transportation Development Act (TDA) Article 3 funds for the Frisbie Middle School SRTS Project and Bemis Elementary SRTS Project; and
2) Authorize the City Manager to execute all related documents.