For City Council Meeting [June 11, 2019]
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Sean Grayson, Interim City Administrator
FROM: Robert G. Eisenbeisz, P.E., Public Works Director/City Engineer
Title
Request City Council to Approve the City of Rialto Safe Routes to School Program Plan.
POWERPOINT
(ACTION)
Body
BACKGROUND:
The Active Transportation Program (ATP) was created by Senate Bill 99 (Chapter 359, Statutes of 2013) and Assembly Bill 101 (Chapter 354, Statutes of 2013) to encourage increased use of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking. The ATP consolidates various transportation programs, including the Federal Transportation Alternatives Program, State Bicycle Transportation Account, and Federal and State Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs into a single program.
Pursuant to the statute, the goals of the ATP are to:
• Increase the proportion of trips accomplished by biking and walking.
• Increase the safety and mobility of non-motorized users.
• Advance the active transportation efforts of regional agencies to achieve greenhouse gas reduction goals as established pursuant to Senate Bill 375 (Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008) and Senate Bill 391 (Chapter 585, Statutes of 2009).
• Enhance public health, including reduction of childhood obesity with programs including, but not limited to, projects eligible for SRTS Program funding.
• Ensure that disadvantaged communities fully share in the benefits of the program.
• Provide a broad spectrum of projects to benefit many types of active transportation users.
On May 21, 2014, the City of Rialto submitted a grant application to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) proposing to work with the Rialto Unified School District (RUSD) to develop a Citywide SRTS plan. On June 25, 2015, Caltrans approved the Plan for the City’s Non-Infrastructure project. On August 25, 2015, the City Council accepted the ATP grant funds for $1,450,000.
On February 23, 2016, City Council approved a Professional Services Agreement with Alta Planning + Design (Alta) for the City of Rialto ATP, SRTS Program Development and Engineering Services in the amount of $1,121,420.
On May 25, 2017, the City of Rialto, Alta, and RUSD executed the first amendment to the professional services agreement to include RUSD as an additional insured entity to the contract.
On April 10, 2018, City Council approved the Infrastructure Prioritization Report, which is a prioritized preliminary cost estimate of identified infrastructure improvements within a quarter mile of each of the 29 schools within RUSD. The planning document will help the City apply for grant funding based upon the prioritized list of capital improvements. The SRTS plan identifies infrastructure improvements at a total estimated cost of $17,292,130. The $17 million estimate includes the estimated construction costs and anticipated soft costs (design, environmental, and inspection).
On January 8, 2019, City Council approved the Second Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Alta for Professional Services related to the City of Rialto Active Transportation Program, Safe Routes to School Program, in the amount of $39,200.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
The City of Rialto Safe Routes to School Program Plan, included as Attachment 1, provides a summary of activities in the several years of the program, as well as recommendations that can be used by the City to obtain additional infrastructure and programmatic funding.
The following is a summary highlighting the plan elements contained in the document:
- Introduction and Project Background of the Six E’s of SRTS for the RUSD
- General school observation and Existing School Specific Conditions
- Education, including safety workshops, school-based educational materials, school pedestrian and bike rodeos
- Encouragement, including development of safe routes to school maps, walk/bike to school events, walking to school bus event, SRTS video challenge, and tactical urbanism (type of low-cost, temporary changes built to improve local neighborhood)
- Enforcement, including a crossing guard location study and recommendation, training materials for consideration and implementation by RUSD, and enforcement analysis based on pedestrian and bicycle collision data
- Engineering, including SRTS unfunded prioritization of proposed infrastructure improvements estimated at $17 million
- Evaluation, using National Center for SRTS student travel tallies and parent surveys which provides a framework to determine if SRTS strategies are having a desired outcome of increased safety and increased active modes share on roadways
- Equity, including ensuring equal access to SRTS program activities by all members of the community
- Specific School Site Assessments for all 28 schools in the district
- Funding Analysis identifying potential sources of funding for planning, design, implementation and maintenance of SRTS projects
On May 29, 2019, the SRTS plan was presented to City Council for review and comments. The following is a summary of items raised by the City Council during the meeting.
Prioritization of Infrastructure Improvements: On April 10, 2018, the City Council approved the Infrastructure Prioritization Report, incorporated into Chapter 6 (Engineering) of the overall SRTS Plan. The Engineering Section of the SRTS Plan describes the metrics used to prioritize school infrastructure projects as outlined below:
• Percent of student population enrolled in Free and Reduced Priced Meals Program
• Percent of student population in Healthy Fitness Zone
• Total student population/enrollment
• Student population density within 1/2 mile of school site (including attendance boundary)
• Number of pedestrian and/or bicycle collisions within ½ mile of school site
• Median household income within ½ mile of school site
• Number of carless households within census block where school is located
• School density ‐ number of schools within ¼ mile of one another
• City population density - ½ mile
In addition to school specific data, the following data also influenced the final prioritization:
• Walking assessment findings (comments, perceptions, and photos)
• Proposed recommendations (location, type, and proximity)
• Roadway configuration (speed, design, and layout)
• Engineering judgment
Finally, these metrics were weighted and school projects were scored and ranked accordingly.
SRTS Plan for Non-RUSD schools within Rialto: While the SRTS Plan only covered RUSD schools, many of the recommendations, including education, encouragement, enforcement, evaluation, equity, and funding, are generally applicable to all schools within Rialto boundaries. Furthermore, staff will continue to pursue additional grant funding opportunities to expand SRTS planning efforts and will continue collaborating with the County of San Bernardino on their SRTS Program, which provides SRTS activities countywide. Private schools are not eligible under this current grant-funding source; however, alternative funding may be available to supplement the grant funding efforts in the future.
SRTS Plan for RUSD schools outside of Rialto Jurisdiction: Since the grant was written and awarded as a project to develop the SRTS plan with RUSD, all schools in the district were included in the Plan. Four of the twenty-nine schools assessed in the SRTS Plan are located outside of the City of Rialto boundary lines, mainly Garcia Elementary, Morris Elementary, and Jehue Middle Schools which are in the City of Colton; Kordyak Elementary School which is in the City of Fontana. Myers Elementary and Kelley Elementary sit at the border of Rialto and City of San Bernardino.
Once the SRTS Plan is approved by the City Council, the Plan will be shared with the City of Colton, the City of Fontana, and City of San Bernardino. It is anticipated that many opportunities to collaborate will arise in the future and each partner city will contribute their fair share to projects as identified and developed. For example, based upon recommendations within the draft plan, Rialto submitted an application for Pepper Avenue Corridor SRTS Infrastructure Improvements, which included the City of Colton and the City of San Bernardino as co-applicants in the last SRTS cycle of the State Active Transportation Program.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
The requested City Council action 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:
The City of Rialto General Plan establishes various guiding principles, goals and objectives through which the City looks to improve the community and protect the quality of life for our residents. 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 complies with the City of Rialto General Plan Goals and Policy:
Goal 4-9: Promote walking.
Policy 4-9.3: Provide pedestrian-friendly and safety improvements, such as crosswalks and pedestrian signals, in all pedestrian activity areas.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed and approved the SRTS Plan and this staff report.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Operating Budget Impact
The proposed action will have no impact to the operating budget. Funding was approved by the City Council on May 14, 2019, Tab 6.
Capital Improvement Budget Impact
The proposed action will not affect the Capital Improvement Budget; however, the SRTS plan identifies unfunded infrastructure improvements at a total estimated cost of $17,292,130.
Licensing
The action taken by City Council in this report will not result in a business license application nor subjected to payment of a Business License tax.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the City of Rialto Safe Routes to School Program Plan.