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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/12/2002, C14 - CALIFORNIA BICYCLE TRANSPORTATION ACCOUNT (BTA) GRANT APPLICATION council MeetlncDae November 12,200 j acenaa nepoRt "'Ci CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO NNll FROM: Mike McCluskey, Director of Public Works `,A',"- Prepared By: Terry Sanville, Principal Transportation Planner'-5 SUBJECT: CALIFORNIA BICYCLE TRANSPORTATION ACCOUNT(BTA) GRANT APPLICATION CAO RECOMMENDATION: As recommended by the Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC), adopt a resolution directing the CAO to submit a BTA Grant Application to Caltrans and enter into any required agreements for the installation of the northern segment of the Railroad Safety Trail between Foothill Boulevard and Hathway Street. DISCUSSION A. Background and Description of Projects. In 2001, the Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) expressed a desire to submit applications to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for funding bicycle projects under the Bicycle Transportation Account (BTA) program. At its September 19, 2002 meeting, the BAC considered eligible projects, reviewed the opportunities and limitations of the BTA program, and recommended that an application be submitted for the northern segment of the Railroad Safety Trail. The deadline for submitting the grant application is December 1, 2002. This project involves the installation of a twelve-foot-wide asphalt path on City-controlled land just west of the palm trees along California Boulevard. Attached photographs show the path's proposed location (Attachment 3). This facility would serve the needs of both bicyclists and pedestrians since there are no sidewalks along this street section. Implementation of this segment of the Railroad Safety Trail is made easier by the fact that the City will not have to negotiate with the Union Pacific Railroad for the sale of land. The Council may remember that it authorized the submittal of a Statewide Transportation Enhancement (STE) grant application for this same project in 2001. That grant application was unsuccessful. However, staff believes that this project may be more competitive under the BTA program — although it too is a highly competitive program. Cal Poly transportation officials have provided a letter of support for the City's grant application (see Attachment 2) since the project will incrementally benefit access to and from the campus. B. Description of the BTA Program. This program provides annual funding for bicycle projects throughout California. The following are key program elements: 1. Purpose: projects that receive BTA funding must "...improve the safety and convenience for bicycle commuters." The State of California defines bicycle commuting as any trip taken by bicycle that is not for the purpose of recreation or exercise.. 2. Program Budget and Project Limits: the BTA program provides $7.2 million for bicycle projects. Local agencies compete on a statewide basis for these funds, with the maximum grant received by ai4- t i Council Agenda Report: December 2002 Bicycle Transportation Account Grant.7ogram Page 2 any agency capped at 25% of the total amount available, or $1.8 million. In 2001, the State received over $29,000,000 in grant applications. The State was able to approve 34 grants ranging in amount from $9,000 to $600,000 and the average being about$200,000. 3. Local Funding Match: BTA funds will cover ninety percent (90%) of the estimated cost of the project. The City Council must adopt a resolution certifying that it will cover the remaining ten percent(10%) of the total project cost. 4. Anlication Deadline: BTA Grant Applications must be submitted to local Caltrans District 5 Offices no later than December 1, 2002 to be eligible for this funding cycle. 5. Types of Eligible Projects: eligible BTA project categories include: a. New bikeways serving major transportation corridors b. New bikeways removing travel barriers to potential bicycle commuters c. Secure bicycle parking at employment centers, park-and-ride lots, rail and transit terminals, and ferry docks and landings. d. Bicycle-carrying facilities on public transit e. Installation of traffic control devices to improve the safety and efficiency of bicycle travel. f. Elimination of hazardous conditions on existing bikeways. g. Planning h. Improvement and maintenance of bikeways. 6. Planning Requirements: to apply for BTA funding, agencies must have adopted a Bicycle Transportation Plan that meets content requirements of the Streets and Highways Code and has been certified by the Regional Transportation Planning Agency (in our case, the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments or"SLOCOG") and by the State's Bicycle Facilities Unit. 7. Environmental Clearances: agencies must document the completion of environmental clearances needed to satisfy the California Environmental Quality Act (e.g. an issued Categorical Exemption, Negative Declaration, Mitigated Negative Declaration, or certified Environmental Impact Report (EIR)• C. Evaluating Alternative Projects. The Public Works staff reviewed Appendix K of the recently adopted Bicycle Transportation Plan to identify high-priority candidate projects. Only those that are primarily directed toward serving the needs of bicycle commuters (the Category 1 projects) were considered since the BTA program limits its support to these types of projects. Staff considered the following factors: 1. Funding Considerations: while the State will support a project up to a maximum of$1.8 million, given the competition for state funds, it is unlikely that San Luis Obispo would receive an award that large. Therefore, staff targeted projects in the $200,000 to $400,000 range, which is still above the grant average for the last funding cycle. Also, while the BTA program will cover 90%of the project costs, the City will be required to provide a 10% funding match using local funds. Given the current state of funding for capital projects, providing the required funding match could be an issue,depending on the size of the project. 2 o,t 4^a I Council Agenda Report: December 2002 Bicycle Transportation Account Grant rrogram Page 3 Finally, the amount of funding provided by the BTA program is generally out of scale with some of the City's larger Class I bike path projects. While San Luis Obispo is eligible to apply for BTA funding, the City would have to use local funds to make up the difference between the amount of funding provided by the BTA program and the project's total cost. 2. Environmental Clearances: the BTA program requires documentation of completed environmental clearance be submitted with the application. In essence, the State does not want to consider projects that might get delayed in the environmental assessment process. Therefore, complicated projects outside of public street rights-of-way that may require extensive environmental documents (focused EIRs or Mitigated Negative Declarations) were excluded from staff consideration. Only projects within street rights-of-way for which a "categorical exemption" or "negative declaration" can be easily prepared, projects that have already received their environmental clearance (e.g. the Railroad Safety Trail), or simple Class I projects for which Negative Declarations can be approved by the City Council without extensive staff work,were considered. 3. Ability to Meet State Funding Criteria: the BTA application must describe how our City's project My satisfies six (6) criteria identified below. Many projects listed in the City's Bicycle Transportation Plan (updated version) may not be able to easily satisfy all of this program's criteria. Primarily bicycle commuters will use project. Project has the potential to increase bicycle commuting. Project is the best alternative for the situation. Project will improve continuity with existing bikeways.. Project will provide a direct route to activity centers such as schools, employment centers, shopping, etc. Project is consistent with the Bicycle Transportation Plan. CONCURRENCES At its September 19, 2002 meeting, the BAC discussed the BTA program and recommended that the City Council authorize the submittal of a grant application for the northern segment of the Railroad Safety Trail. FISCAL IMPACT The BTA program requires a minimum local funding match of ten percent (10%). This project's total cost is estimated at $350,000 and the City's contribution will be $35,000 from the capital improvement fund. The Council resolution approving the submittal of the grant application (Attachment 1) must certify that the City is prepared to provide the local funding match. Normally, it will take six to nine months for the State to act on grant applications (spring of 2003). Therefore, the City will need to budget for these required local funding matches as part of the upcoming 2003-2005 Financial Plan process. 3 CiL4-3 Council Agenda Report:December 2002 Bicycle Transportation Account Gram grogram Page 4 ALTERNATIVES The City Council may: 1. Defer action and request additional information or analysis. Comment: the result of this alternative is that the City would not be able to meet the December 1, 2002 deadline for submittal of BTA grant applications. 2. Direct Staff to submit BTA grant applications for other projects or programs. Comment: the feasibility of successfully submitting grant applications by the December Is` deadline will depend on the alternative project selected. For example, projects that require anything but the lowest level of environmental review (e.g. a Categorical Exemption) could not be completed in time. Staff can provide feedback to the City Council, if this action alternative is attractive to the Council majority. 3. Decide not to apply for BTA funding at this time. Comment: applications for funding under the next BTA funding cycle are due December 1, 2003. ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1: Resolution authorizing submittal of a BTA Grant Applications to Caltrans Attachment 2: Letter of Support from Lawrence R. Kelley, Cal Poly vice President for Administration &Finance. Attachment 3: Location Map and Photograph l:\Council Agenda Reports\2002 agenda reports\BTA Grant Applications(December 2002).doc 4 e14 ^4 ATTACHMENT I RESOLUTION NO. (2002 Series) A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO DIRECTING THE CAO TO SUBMIT A FUNDING APPLICATION TO THE CALIFORNIA BICYCLE TRANSPORATION ACCOUNT (BTA) PROGRAM FOR THE NORTHERN SEGMENT OF THE RAILROAD SAFETY TRAIL WHEREAS,the City Council has adopted a Bicycle Transportation Plan that complies with the content requirements of Section 891.2 of the California Streets and Highways Code; and WHEREAS, San Luis Obispo's Bicycle Transportation Plan specifically recommends the creation of the Railroad Safety Trail and identifies the segment between Foothill Boulevard and Hathway Street as a segment of this trail system; and WHEREAS, the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) has reviewed the BTA Grant Program Guidelines, considered alternative eligible projects, and has recommended that the City Council pursue BTA grant funding for the project described herein; and WHEREAS, the Community Development Director has reviewed the Railroad Safety Trail project and its Initial Environmental Study and has granted the project a Mitigated Negative Declaration consistent with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act(CEQA)and its guidelines; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that implementation of this project described below will improve bicycle transportation in San Luis Obispo, consistent with the community's General Plan Circulation Element and Bicycle Transportation Plan. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo as follows: Section 1. The City Council directs the City Administrative Officer(CAO) to submit BTA grant applications to Caltrans and to enter into any subsequent cooperative agreements with that agency for the following project: 1. The northern segment of the Railroad Safety Trail paralleling the east side of the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way between Foothill Boulevard and Hathway Street ($350,000 total cost). Section 2. The City Council hereby certifies that it will provide a minimum ten percent (10%) local funding match for the project described in Section 1. On motion of seconded by and on the following roll call vote: - ' ATTACHMENT 1 Page 2—Resolution No. AYES: NOES: ABSENT: the following resolution was adopted this 12th day of November, 2002. Allen K. Settle,Mayor ATTEST: Lee Price,City Clerk effrey G. Jorgensen, City Attorney 0'c4 - lo ArraCt�EtvT 2 CALPOLY C'alit0mia Pulvtcchtnt St.ttc Univcrsily fan Luis Obisix,,C'.\1);407 -. \dministrllinu.\Fin.mcc Di%i.il,u (S(li) 7ih-2171 • Fa\ (�l`il ;i6.7ih0 "r � 1 OCT < October 18, 2002 Terry Sanville Principal Transportation Planner City of San Luis Obispo Public Works Department 955 Morro Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 RE: Bicycle Transportation Account(BTA) Grant Dear Mr. Sanville: Please accept this letter in support of the City of San Luis Obispo's application to the Bicycle Transportation Account (BTA) grant. Because of the university's faculty, staff, and student population within San Luis Obispo, the City and Cal Poly both have an interest in safe bike paths that both benefit and serve the local community. Alternative transportation is a major part of Cal Poly's newly adopted Master Plan, and as such we support the efforts made by the City that encourage the use of alternative forms of transportation. Sincerely, La ce R. 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