Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/02/2007, C2 - SANTA BARBARA AVENUE WIDENING; HIGH TO BROAD, SPECIFICATION NO. 90408 council M�D° ,l acEnoA wpont Octoberoo� Item Nmnba CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO FROM: Jay Walter, Public Works Director Prepared By: Bridget Fraser, Engineer IIIA SUBJECT: SANTA BARBARA AVENUE WIDENING; HIGH TO BROAD, SPECIFICATION NO. 90408 CAO RECOMMENDATION 1. Authorize the purchase of additional right-of-way at 2140 Santa Barbara Avenue(Assessor's Parcel No. 003-752-005), for the sum of $64,200 and authorize the CAO to sign all necessary purchase and escrow documents. 2. Authorize the CAO to approve a Purchase Agreement for additional right-of-way located at 2034 Santa Barbara Avenue (Assessor's Parcel No. 003-752-007), for a sum not to exceed $155,000. 3. Authorize the Mayor to sign the Certificates of Acceptance for additional Santa Barbara Avenue right-of-way acquisitions. 4. Approve plans and specifications for the "Santa Barbara Street Widening; High to Broad Streets, Specification No. 90408" project and authorize staff to advertise for bids for project construction. 5. Authorize CAO to award the contract if lowest responsible bid is within Engineer's Estimate of$660,000. 6. Approve the transfer of $51,422 from the budgets of several completed projects to the project budget and appropriate $315,000 in approved additional State grant revenue to the project budget and $200,366 from the unreserved General Fund balance to the project budget. DISCUSSION Background In 1999, the City Council authorized staff to hire a consultant to prepare an operational study for Santa Barbara Avenue. The operational study, which was approved by Council in 2000, included a recommendation to widen Santa Barbara Avenue from Upham to Broad to improve traffic conditions and maintain safety. The portion from Upham to High was widened as part of the Rarig property improvements and as part of the City's Railroad Transportation Center project. In 2001, Council established a new setback line between High and Broad seven feet from the current right-of-way line on the easterly side. This setback was established to prevent any new building within this setback and reserve the additional seven feet for a future street widening. Subsequently, a Capital Improvement Project to purchase the right-of-way and widen this remaining two block section of Santa Barbara Avenue was included in the City's 2003-05 Financial Plan. C z-� Santa Barbara Avenue Widening—High to Broad Street Page 2 Project Description As stated above, the purpose of this project is to improve traffic conditions and maintain safety on this arterial street. The operational study recommended widening the street to 49' between curbs to allow left turn pockets and a center turn lane between High and Roundhouse and allow for a second left turn lane on to Broad while maintaining the existing bike lanes, parking and loading zones. This project will address most, but not all, of the operational study recommendation. This project will add the center turn lane and left turn pockets between High and Roundhouse and will. maintain bike lanes on both sides of the street; however, the northerly 200' feet could not be widened the full 39' width due to an existing building on the east side. In order to install the left turn lane onto High and maintain bike lanes, a section of parking on the west side in front of Farris Lighting will be removed. This project will widen the street the full 49' width between Roundhouse and Broad; however, a second left turn lane on to Broad will not be installed with this project. Adding a second left turn lane will require extensive upgrades to the signal at Broad. Funding for this upgrade will be sought and a future project programmed. Even with these short falls, this project still fulfills the overall goal—improving traffic conditions and maintaining safety. Right-of-way Acquisitions This project requires the acquisition of additional right-of-way along the two parcels on the eastside in the block between High and Roundhouse (2034 and 2140 Santa Barbara Avenue).. Since the City already owns the parcel between Roundhouse and Broad (Fire Station No. 1) no acquisition of additional right-of—way is required in this block. The City hired the firm Reeder, Gilman & Million of Santa Maria, certified state licensed appraisers, to determine the fair market value for the two needed parcels. The fair market value is determined using recent sales of comparable properties. 1. 2140 Santa Barbara The fair market value for this parcel is $64,200. Based on this fair market value, an acquisition agreement was negotiated with, and found acceptable by the property owner. A copy of the purchase agreement is available for review in the Council office. Z 2034 Santa Barbara The appraisal for this property was received at the time of writing this report. The City's right-of- way agent will review the appraisal, prepare the appraisal summary and purchase agreement and then present it to staff for review and approval. Upon staff's approval a formal offer will be presented to the owner after which a negotiation period will ensue. Expediting the purchase of this property is necessary in order to secure it before the construction award deadline discussed below. To expedite the purchase of this property staff recommends that the CAO be given authority to authorize and execute the purchase of the property as long as the purchase price does not exceed $155,000. �z- z Santa Barbara Avenue Widening—High to Broad Street Page 3 Grant Status This project is predominantly funded with State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) funding. To meet STIP guidelines, the construction contract must be awarded by December 30, 2007 or the City risks losing the $506,000 in STIP construction funds. The contract documents for construction of the widening are now finished and ready for bidding, however, acquisition of the two required properties is pending. The City can not award construction for this project if the needed right-of-way has not been secured. Staff recommends advertising the project to keep it moving forward anticipating that both properties will be secured before the December 30th deadline. CONCURRENCES 1. The Community Development Department has granted this project a Mitigated Negative Declaration in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA) . 2. The Tree Committee approved the application for tree removals associated with this project at their August 27"' meeting. 3. The acquisition agreement for Conroy (2140 Santa Barbara) has been reviewed and approved by City Attorney. 4. The pending encroachment permit from Caltrans is expected to be issued within 4-6 weeks. Any permit requirements will be added to the project by addendum if permit is issued before bid opening or by contract change order if issued after the project is awarded. FISCAL IMPACT The project to widen Santa Barbara Avenue between High and Broad is included in the City's 2003- 05 Financial Plan (pages 139-141 of Appendix B). The current budget for this project is $461,112. As shown in the table below, the total estimated cost for this project is $1,027,900. One reason for this large discrepancy is that the current project budget does not reflect $315,000 of new 2006 STIP allocations. Originally, STIP funds in the amount of $130,000 for acquisition and $320,000 for construction were allocated for this project as part of the 2002 STIP. Since that time,the project was deferred by the state due to budget issues and then delayed until additional funding could be identified due to rising costs. The project was finally reprogrammed in the 2006 STIP where an additional $129,000 for acquisition and an additional $186,000 for construction were allocated to the project. These additional STIP allocations need to be appropriated into the project budget. After taking into account the additional STIP funding, a budget short fall of$251,788 still remains. As shown in the table below, most of this is due to construction related costs. The original 2003-05 budget did not account for construction management costs. The current proposed budget allows for $30,000 for costs associated with compaction testing or possible archaeological monitoring. The original budget was also based on estimates generated for the 2002 STIP application—most likely in 2001. These costs were already 2-3 years old before entering the 2003-05 budget. When the project was reprogrammed in the 2006 STIP, a budget shortfall was recognized and there was some attempt made to correct the budget. An additional $186,000 was added at that time to the STIP construction allocation. This new estimate, most likely generated in 2005, is again nearly 3 years old. Although c�-3 Santa Barbara Avenue Widening—High to Broad Street Page 4 there is some indication that construction prices are leveling off, there have still been significant cost increases in the last three years. Staff recommends funding this shortfall of$251,788 with a transfer from several completed projects, and with a new appropriation from the unreserved General Fund balance. Staff recommends transferring $51,422 from various budgets of several completed projects to the project budget. This balance represents the remaining residual funds of five completed General Fund projects (Mission Walkway, Mission Plaza Repairs, Mill Street Curb and Gutter, Emergency Storm Drain, and Damon-Garcia Parking Lot) completed within the last four years. Additionally, staff recommends appropriating $200,366 from the unreserved General Fund balance. As noted in the recent interim financial report for 2006-07, the City ended last fiscal year in stronger financial shape than we estimated in the 2007-09 Financial Plan, which was largely due to one-time sources. Given the importance of this project in meeting the City's 2007-09 major City goal for traffic congestion relief,(it is a key component of the adopted work program); staff believes that this is appropriate one-time use of our one-time, stronger reserves. Even with this added appropriation, based on the stronger ending financial position in 2006-07, projected General Fund reserves at the end of 2007-09 will be 25% of operating expenditures compared with our policy minimum of 20% A summary of the project accounting is shown below: Current Budget Proposed +New STIP I Budget Variance Design $ 119112 $ 12,960 $ 1,788 Surveying $ 10,400 Advertising, Printing and Other Costs $ 2,500 Acquisition $ 259,000 $ 2599000 $ - Right-of-way consultant $ 23,800 Appraisals $ 11,000 Escrow/Closing Costs $ 5,000 Right-of-way: 2140 Santa Barbara $ 64,200 Right-of-way:2034 Santa Barbara $ 155,000 Current Budget $ 130,000 Additional STIP $ 129,000 Construction $ 506,000 $ 7269000 $ 2209000 Construction Contract $ 660,000 Contingencies at 10% $ 66,000 Current Budget $ 320,000 Additional STIP $ 186,000 Construction Management $ - $ 30,000 $ 309000 Inspection &Testing $ 15,000 Monitoring $ 15,000 TOTAL $ 7769112 $ 110279900 $ 2519788 C2 - Y i Santa Barbara Avenue Widening—High to Broad Street Page 5 ALTERNATIVES Defer the project . The project could be deferred until additional grant funding can be obtained. The current STIP construction funding would be forfeited. Staff would need to reapply for funding in the next STIP cycle where the project would compete against other projects for available funding. In addition, based on past experience, costs are more likely to increase with time. More importantly, traffic congestion will increase and suggested safety improvements will be delayed. ATTACHMENTS 1. Vicinity Map AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW IN THE COUNCIL OFFICE 1. Plans and Specifications 2. Purchase Agreement—City/Conroy-2140 Santa Barbara T:\Council Agenda Reports\FW CAR\90408 Santabarbarawiden-FINAL.Doc l i� c f`y I f TTACHMENT 1 -CGL POLI i *J„= 1� r N Q EX ® � Qo 42 �ODOO O J o n ® �® E ❑� \\ J SI! K ��'7VnVhJ IA6ft U � \ f PROJECT WX OCATION j o � mcm �.mnn U IQ �p� O(' SANTA BARBARA AVENUE �►,/ t WIDENING PROJECT SM ,j S 0B�� HIGH CI BROAD STREETS �A! � LM1.7 SPECIFICATION 90408 Public Works Department 919 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 LOCATIONNICINITY MAP cz - 6