HomeMy WebLinkAbout2/15/2022 Item 6a, Horn - Staff Agenda CorrespondenceCity of San Luis Obispo, Council Memorandum
Council Agenda Correspondence
DATE: February 15, 2022
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Matt Horn, Public Works Director
VIA: Derek Johnson, City Manager
SUBJECT: Item 6a – FY 2021-22 Mid-Year Budget Review
Staff received the following questions, regarding the mid-year report that the City Council
is reviewing under agenda Item 6a.- FY 2021-22 Mid-Year Budget Review, specifically
regarding the funding for active transportation programs and projects. This
correspondence aims to provide additional information accordingly. The questions are
below with staff’s response shown in italics:
1. Is there need for an additional Transportation Engineering position?
The Mid-Year Budget Review includes a recommendation for additional operating
funds for consultant services to support the Transportation Planning and Engineering
work program. One may ask “why not increase in-house staffing resources in the
Transportation Engineering and Planning Program in lieu of funding additional
consultant work?”. At the recent City Council hearing on February 1, 2022, the Council
received a staff report presenting the findings of a Capital Improvement Plan Program
Assessment, completed by Management Partners. This study identified strategies to
improve the process and recommended increased resources for City-led Capital
Improvement Plan projects, including any adjustments to staffing needed to support
an ambitious work program that includes many significant transportation projects. The
recommendation from this study was not to increase staffing levels in the
Transportation Engineering and Planning Program at this time, but to shift the majority
of project management and delivery responsibilities for transportation CIP projects to
the CIP Engineering Program. Transportation staff are currently managing delivery of
several high-priority CIP projects, including the Railroad Safety Trail (Taft to Pepper),
Orcutt/Tank Farm Roundabout, and the recently completed Broad/Woodbridge, which
requires significant staff time. By shifting the time-intensive responsibility of CIP
project delivery to others, Transportation Engineering and Planning Program would
have more in-house resources to focus on ongoing transportation operations,
programs (i.e. Neighborhood Traffic Management, Traffic Safety/Vision Zero) and
planning & design of other priority transportation projects. During this interim period
while the CIP Engineering Program team begins to increase staffing levels to support
these process improvement strategies, Transportation Engineering and Planning staff
plan to use consultant resources to support the ambitious current work.
FY 2021-22 Mid-Year Budget Review Page 2
2. Minor Bicycle Facility Improvements Funding
Public agenda correspondence suggested that the Miscellaneous Bikeway Facility
Accounts should be replenished at this time. Each fiscal year, there is a CIP project
that provides funding for miscellaneous minor bikeway and pedestrian facility
improvements. This is typically used for lower-cost spot improvements, like addition
of green pavement markings, traffic signage/striping modifications, and retrofitting
older drain grates. However, the Active Transportation Committee (ATC)—who
provides funding recommendations to staff and the City Council on active
transportation project priorities—recently directed Transportation staff to use the
remaining unspent balance in the Misc. Bicycle Facility Improvements account to
accelerate planning and design efforts for a complete street project on the Foothill
Boulevard corridor. At the time, there was not a strong consensus among the ATC on
which minor bikeway projects should be prioritized; thus, the committee preferred
advancing efforts to improve active transportation facilities on Foothill now. The Misc.
Bicycle Facilities Account funding will be replenished at the start of the next fiscal year
(July 1, 2022).
3. Quick-Build Delivery of Active Transportation Tier 1 Projects
The Active Transportation Plan (ATP) identifies a rapid build-out of the ATP Tier 1
(highest-priority) network over a 10-year period, which is very ambitious and will
require efficient project planning, design and construction to achieve. Staff concurs
with the suggestion to utilize a quick-build approach to implement the highest-priority
active transportation projects using lower-cost strategies first, then upgrading to more
costly permanent designs over time. Design is already underway for complete street
projects along the Higuera Corridor (Marsh to Los Osos Valley Road) and the Foothill
Boulevard Corridor (Patricia to California), which will utilize this quick-build approach,
and several other priority active transportation projects are currently in construction
or planned for construction in 2022, such as the Railroad Safety Trail (Taft to Pepper),
Marsh/Higuera Bikeways and Neighborhood Greenways as part of 2021-22 Paving
Projects, Cerro San Luis Greenway (working title for previously-named Anholm
Greenway), and Pedestrian Crossing Improvements Project (enhanced ped
crossings at Johnson/Sydney, South/King, 4 other locations). These projects are
expected to keep the Transportation Engineering and Planning Program fully
occupied through the remainder of the 2021-23 Work Program. Staff is looking ahead
to the 2023-25 Financial Plans as opportunities to request additional funding
resources to advance planning/design of the Broad Street Corridor (and other Tier 1
projects), and fund construction of the Higuera and Foothill Complete Street Projects.