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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/06/2011, C 4 - PREFUMO CREEK / LOS OSOS VALLEY ROAD BIKE PATH GRANT FUNDING G G council "rept. 6.2011 j acEnaa nEpoizt CITY OF SAN LUIS O B I S P O FROM: Jay D. Walter, Director of Public Works Prepared By: Michael J. McGuire, Engineer III SUBJECT: PREFUMO CREEK / LOS OSOS VALLEY ROAD BIKE PATH GRANT FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Deprogram $5,484.93 in approved Safe Routes to School grant funding for the construction of the Prefumo Creek Pedestrian Bike Path. 2. Transfer $119,775 from the projects construction phase to the project's design phase ($55,000) and construction management phase ($64,775) to support the design and construction of the alternative Safe Routes to School bike/pedestrian path along Los Osos Valley Road between Oceanaire Drive and Laguna Lane. DISCUSSION Background In 2006, staff applied for and was awarded a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Grant of$798,600 for the design and construction of a pedestrian/bike bridge across Prefumo Creek that would provide a safe link for the community and the area schools between the Oceanaire and Laguna Lake neighborhoods. Starting from Oceanaire Drive, the Class I bicycle and pedestrian path would run through an access easement at the Windermere Condominiums, span across Prefumo Creek with a new bridge, enter into Vista Lago Park and end at Vista Lago Street, near Laguna Middle School. Early discussions with Windermere management indicated they would be willing to consider such an easement. After many months of negotiations with the Windermere Homeowners Association, an agreement for the bike path/bridge project failed to materialize. At this time, Staff recommends proceeding with the design and construction of an alternative bike/pedestrian path along Los Osos Valley Road. Negotiations Design of this project was initiated in October 2008 and preliminary design completed by August 2009. With a substantial portion of the design completed, staff presented the project to residents within the vicinity of the bike path for public comment. At time of public comment, some residents, including several property owners in the Windermere Condominiums, were strongly opposed to the bike path. This opposition resulted in an appeal to the Architectural Review Commission (ARC), which denied the appeal and approved the project. Ultimately, the appeal went before the City Council on March 16, 2010, where the Council denied the appeal and upheld the ARC's action to approve the project. The City Council also directed staff that if the C4-1 Q O Prefumo Creek Bike Path Grant Funding, Specification No. 90806 Page 2 project, as it was designed and approved by both the ARC and City Council, became infeasible, then staff would return to Council with an alternate route consistent with grant funding provisions. By this point, the Windermere Homeowners Association had reversed its cooperation to dedicate the access easement to the City. The City attempted to negotiate a purchase of the access easement from the Windermere Homeowners Association but could not agree on a sale price. Staff decided it was unfeasible to continue with the project as designed and determined that the City should proceed with the alternative path route as indicated in the initial grant application. This alternative path was approved by the City Council on May 3, 2011 (Attachment 1). Alternative Path The alternative path route consists of installing a 12 foot wide two-way concrete Class I bike path on the northbound traffic side of Los Osos Valley Road between Oceanaire Drive and Laguna Lane (Attachment 2). The installation will require relocating curb and gutter, traffic lanes, a bus stop and some utilities, along with improved traffic signalization and bike path approaches. Design is set to begin soon with Cannon Engineering of San Luis Obispo, one of the City's on- call civil engineering design consultants. It is anticipated that construction will begin in June 2012, immediately after the completion of the school year and construction completed by the end of August 2012, prior to the start of the new school year. As a condition of the original grant, a portion was allocated for the design of the bike/pedestrian bridge in July 2008. The full amount for design was completely expended in 2008-09 for the original design consultant's services. There is currently $715,396.93 remaining in the project account for construction and construction management services. Since the alternative bike path route required a different project scope of work, a revised project budget was submitted to Caltrans Division of Local Assistance, the responsible agency for grant disbursements. In June 2011, Caltrans approved the new project scope and disbursements for the design, construction and construction management services for this project. Staff recommends proceeding with the design and construction of this alternative bike/pedestrian path along Los Osos Valley Road. CONCURRENCES The project has the concurrence of Caltrans, San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG), C.L. Smith Elementary School and Laguna Lake Middle School. FISCAL IMPACT The Prefiuno Creek Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge project was approved as part of the 2007-09 Mid-Year Financial Plan, pages C-32 through C-36, which appropriated $798,600 in SRTS grant funding for design and construction services. Currently, there is $715,396.93 remaining in the project account; $703,296.93 for construction and $12,100 for construction management and inspection services. C4-2 0 Prefumo Creek Bike Path Grant Funding, Specification No.90806 Page 3 Due to the revised project scope, project budgets for design, construction and construction management have been changed. In June 2011, Caltrans approved the revised disbursement amount which includes a deprogramming of approximately $5,485 of grant funds which will not be realized as a part of this project. Staff recommends approval to transfer remaining funds to the appropriate project phases: $55,000 for design services, $578,037 construction services and $76,875 for construction management/inspection services. The revised project budget is provided below. Fiscal Impact Summary Current Proposed Change Design - 55,000 55,000 Construction 703,297 578,037 (125,260) Construction Management 12,100 76,875 64,775 Total 715 97 709 912 (5,485)1 All project costs are fully funded by the State's Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Grant. There are no City matching funds required. ALTERNATIVE Deny revised appropriation of grant funding. The Council may choose not to approve the revised grant appropriations. Staff does not recommend this alternative as the SRTS grant funding has already been approved and received. Transferring of funds to the appropriate project phases will provide a better accounting of true project costs. The SRTS Grant represents a total of$709,912 in funds available to the City of San Luis Obispo for this bike path project with no requirement for City matching funds. Without this funding, this project will not have the necessary financial support to continue. ATTACHMENTS 1. Council Agenda Report Prefumo Creek Bridge Project Update 2. Vicinity Map T:\Council Agenda Reports\Public Works CAR\2011\CIP\90806 LOVR SRTS Bike Path\90806 CAR Design Funds.doc C4-3 O Attachment 1 COUnaL X1,6w N. 5/3/11 j acEnba uEpont 1�mN°m� CITY OF SAN L U IS O B I S P O FROM: Jay D. Walter, Director of Public Works Prepared By: Peggy Mandeville, Principal Transportation Planner Dan VanBeveren, Senior Civil Engineer SUBJECT: RAILROAD SAFETY TRAIL AND PREFUMO CREEK BRIDGE PROJECT UPDATES RECOMMENDATION 1. Direct staff to continue its efforts on the alternative alignment designs for the Railroad Safety Trail,. pursuing approval from the State of California and utilizing City right-of-way where possible. 2. Direct staff to begin preparation of plans and specifications for the Los Osos Valley Road alternative for the Prefumo Creek Bridge Safe Route to School project. REPORT IN BRIEF This report provides update and revised recommendations for implementation on two major bikeway projects being undertaken by the City: 1) the Railroad Safety Trail and 2) the Prefumo Creek Bicycle Bridge to Laguna Middle School. The projects have encountered obstacles to completion mostly having to do with acquisition of right of way and access across privately held property. This report discusses alternative assessments conducted for each of these projects and recommends alternatives for Council consideration to the previously approved project alignments. DISCUSSION Railroad Safety Trail 1. Background The City has been working on the Railroad Safety Trail project since the late 1990's. The City Council approved the overall trail concept in 2001, and in 2004, the City submitted plans to Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) for the City's proposed Railroad Safety Trail. The Railroad Safety Trail is a Class I (separated facility) bikeway which would be built parallel to the existing railroad tracks, and would be constructed partially on UPRR right-of-way. Attachment 4 shows segments and phase areas for reference. UPRR conceptually agreed to the trail as reflected in the plans, subject to several conditions set forth in a letter dated November 2004 (Attachment 1). Following UPRR's conceptual approval, staff moved forward with obtaining grant funding for the trail based on the approved alignment, and hired consultants to complete design and environmental studies in order to prepare plans for construction. The City has also recently undertaken certain maintenance and improvement obligations on UPRR property throughout the C4-4 13 0 Attachment 1 Railroad Safety Trail and Prefumo Creek Bridge Project Updates Page 2 City as a condition for the license agreement for the portion of the trail that was constructed in 2009. In the summer of 2008, when staff submitted plans to UPRR for final approval of the bike path between the Amtrak Station and Hathway Avenue and to enter into necessary license agreements to proceed with the construction, staff was then advised by UPRR that the bikeway project was not consistent with current UPRR policy. Specifically, UPRR policy does not allow for public pathways to be constructed within 40 feet of the centerline of the railroad tracks. In order for UPRR to consider approving the project, the pathway would need to be redesigned to be in compliance with this requirement. Staff continued discussions with UPRR officials, provided the previous documentation of conceptual approval, noted the safety benefits of such a project through fencing of the railroad tracks, and communicated the fact that the project was not feasible based on the new terms stated by UPRR. Simply stated, it would not be possible for a pathway to be built along this corridor and remain greater than 40 feet from the centerline of the tracks. Despite the information submitted by City staff and the previous conceptual approval by UPRR, UPRR remained firm on its position to deny the Railroad Safety Trail. In October 2009, the Public Works Director, the Mayor and the City Manager were invited to meet with UPRR officials to further discuss the matter and gain approval for the license agreement for this trail section. City staff was not successful in solidifying an agreement. Rather, UPRR restated its position that a trail could not be constructed in the location previously approved based on its policy (Attachment 2). UPRR has continued to refuse to consider any proposed trail project, in any form, that would occupy the active right-of-way and is closer than 40 feet to the railroad tracks. Staff contacted several railroad consultants about the UPRR denial and learned that the original support from UPRR in 2004 was fairly unconventional/unusual and that they felt the City's best opportunity to get approval from UPRR for a trail alignment would be if the project were redesigned to be greater than 40 feet from the tracks. Due to the limited width of UPRR right-of- way, the only option would be to design a new alignment which would not be located in the right-of-way, with exception of a few locations where.a bridge would cross over the tracks. Staff concurred with this assessment and notified Council in a memo dated February 16, 2010 (Attachment 3) that staff would begin exploring alternate routes that would complete the trail, and present new trail options to the Council by June 2011. Staff has undertaken extensive work to evaluate other alignment alternatives for the Railroad Safety Trail. The following is a description of each section. 2. Amtrak Station to Marsh Street (also knownasPhase 3) Staff and the Bicycle Advisory Committee recommend a connected route of on-street bicycle boulevards on low volume streets (Islay and Toro) to complete this section. This route would be within City right-of-way and therefore will not require any approvals from UPRR. 3. Marsh Street to Hathwav Avenue In consultation with the Bicycle Advisory Committee, staff has developed a conceptual alignment that minimizes the need for UPRR right-of-way, and still accomplishes the objective of completing a Class I pathway along this stretch. The pathway would utilize the eastern edge of the Pepper Street right-of-way, continue north across a new bridge over Monterey Street, C4-5 O Attachment 1 Railroad Safety Trail and Prefumo Creek Bridge Project Updates Page 3 cross the railroad tracks on a second bridge linking Pepper Street to the California Highway Patrol (CHP) property, and continue to the southern edge of the existing pathway at Hathway by utilizing the existing California Blvd bridge over Highway 101 (Attachment 4 and 5). Staff has met with CHP about the possibility of using the rear of its property, and initial discussions were very encouraging. Subsequent verbal conversations with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and UPRR real estate and operations divisions indicate their support for the trail realignment. Staff has proposed one new Capital Improvement Project in the 2011-13 Financial Plan (Taft to Pepper) to proceed with these new alignments, minimizing the use of UPRR right-of-way, and utilizing the remaining grant funds approved for the original project. The Hathway to Taft project utilizes existing grant funding to complete the design and construction while the Taft to Pepper project utilizes State Highway Account (SHA) funds to begin the effort to develop a design and receive the necessary approvals from UPRR, PUC and CHP. The City would then seek future grants to complete the project's design and construction. 4. Foothill Blvd.to Campus Way Phase 4A Update Although the Phase 4A bike path construction appears to be complete, the City has had to stop work on the project while waiting for an agreement to be processed with UPRR. The reason for stopping the work is that the current traffic signal near the railroad crossing cannot be modified until the existing pre-emption circuits are moved on the tracks, and new conductors are in place at the railroad cabinet. The delay has caused staff to demobilize the contractor while waiting for the agreement. This delay has also prevented the City from performing the final work to the signal and opening the bicycle path to the public. The agreement with UPRR was approved in March 2011, and UPRR's crews have been scheduled to begin the work on April 26, 2011. Once UPRR completes its work, the City's contractor will complete the remaining signal work at Foothill and California. Staff estimates that this phase of the project to be completed by the end of July, 2011. Prefumo Creek Bridge Project On September 19, 2006, the City Council approved a General Plan amendment, rezone and minor subdivision to allow the Windermere Condominiums to sell their recreation building as a dwelling unit. As a condition of approval for the sale, the Council required dedication of an access easement for the City to construct a pedestrian and bicycle path, along with a bridge over Prefumo Creek, to access the existing Vista Lago Park from Oceanaire Drive. The bridge and path would serve the needs of both bicyclists and pedestrians by providing a preferable route to traveling on Los Osos Valley Road (LOVR) to access the area schools and neighborhoods (Attachment 6). In May 2007, a grant for $798,600 from the Safe Routes to Schools program was approved for the project. In October 2008, design was started on the bike/ pedestrian path and bridge. With a preliminary design nearly completed, staff presented the project to residents within the vicinity of the bike path for public comment. Some residents, including several property owners in the Windermere Condominiums, were strongly opposed to the bike path. This opposition culminated in an appeal by a Windermere Condominium homeowner of the Architectural Review Commission's (ARC) action to approve the project. C4-6 OAttachment 1 Railroad Safety Trail and Prefumo Creek Bridge Project Updates Page 4 At the City Council meeting on March 16, 2010, the City Council voted 3:2 to deny the appeal and uphold the ARC's action to approve the project, along with a Mitigated Negative Declaration.subject to mitigation measures and conditions to expand the path width and evaluate path lighting (Attachment 7). The Council also voted 5:0 to direct staff that if the project as designed and approved by the ARC and City Council becomes infeasible, then staff should return to Council with an alternate route consistent with grant funding provisions. One such way that it would be clear that the alternative needed to be pursued is if Windermere homeowners decided to forego granting the City easements for the bike path. Soon after the March 16, 2010 Council meeting, the Windermere Condominium Homeowners' Association (HOA) Board sent a ballot concerning the granting of an easement to its homeowners. On the granting of an easement for the bike path project, the vote was I 1 in favor and 25 not-in-favor with 13 of the 49 ballots not returned. Although staff did not see the ballot language, it is certain that the ballot did not include any property appraisal information. The vote to sell the recreation room for conversion to a residence also did not pass. In order for the City to exhaust all possible opportunities with regard to this project, staff pursued three options, described below. Staff is recommending Item #3 pursuing an alternative routing for the connection that utilizes existing street right of way along Los Osos Valley Road: 1. Easement Appraisal and direct compensation. Staff had an appraisal of the Windermere easement prepared and presented it to the HOA board. The board conducted their own appraisal which valued the easement at approximately 3 times the appraisal prepared for the City. The City's appraiser reviewed Windermere's appraisal and did not concur with its assumptions of developable land and damages. After sharing this review, the HOA board notified the City that they unanimously supported their own appraisal and that they were not interested in entertaining any offers lower than the one presented in their appraisal. The HOA noted that the motivation to sell was low and therefore the City "must be willing to provide the owners with sufficient financial incentive above the assessed value to approve the sale". Further, the HOA board reiterated they would not enter into any agreement with the City without obtaining 100 % approval from its 49 members. Given these two significant hurdles staff does not recommend pursuing this alignment any further and instead direct its efforts to other options. 2. Other Creek Crossing Locations. Staff investigated other possible locations for a bicycle pedestrian bridge across Prefumo Creek. One other location was identified, however, the neighborhood connection would not be as direct as the Windermere easement and it would require easement acquisitions from two property owners, one of whom was contacted and did not express an interest in granting the City an easement for the appraised value. 3. Alternative Route on LOVR. Staff evaluated alternative designs and has determined that it is possible to construct a two-way 12 foot wide path along the northeast side of LOVR (Attachment 8). Given this ability, staff has requested Caltrans approval of a time extension and change to the project description to move the Safe Routes to School grant funding to the LOVR alternative route. If approved, the project has sufficient grant funding to complete the C4-7 Attachment 1 Railroad Safety Trail and Prefumo Creek Bridge Project Updates Page 5 project. Although not the preferred route, staff recommends that the City proceed with the LOVR alternative route because it is feasible and does not require the use of any private property to make the connection. CONCURRENCES The Bicycle Advisory Committee and County Bike Coalition Board has been kept apprised of staff efforts on each project and has been supportive of staffs recommended course of action. FISCAL IMPACT The Hathway to Taft project proposes to utilize approved BTA grant funding which had previously programmed for the Amtrak Station to Marsh Street project. The Taft to Pepper project proposes to utilize SHA funds, as well as existing and future grant funding, to pay for the design and construction of the project. Grant Funding Impacts UPRR's reversal of approval for the Railroad Safety Trail conceptual design adversely impacted the City's plans for two grant funded projects, Amtrak to Marsh Street and the Highway 101 pedestrian(bicycle bridge. Staff has requested grant time extensions and shifts in funding to other sections of the Railroad Safety Trail with the goal of utilizing all of the grant funding approved to-date. Original Grant Amount/ Approved Funding Grant Deadline Trail Section Remaining Funding Shit to: Amtrak Station to BTA $890,000/$500,000 Foothill to Campus April 30, 2011 Marsh Street Hathway to Taft (time extension requested) Highway 101 Bridge BTA/SHA Taft to Pepper April I, 2015 $495,000/$158,000 ALTERNATIVES Railroad Safety Trail Project I. The Council could consider other alternative routes such as utilizing California Blvd. to Phillips Lane. Although much less expensive to implement, staff does not recommend this alternative because of the number of driveways that would need to be crossed and the complexities of two-way travel on one side of the roadway. 2. The Council could consider negotiating further with UPRR on the City's preferred route. Staff does not recommend this alternative because staff does not believe the City will be successful in our efforts and the grant funding received to date would be put further as risk without the certainty of an approved route. 3. The Council could consider abandoning the project altogether. Staff does not recommend this alternative because completing this segment between Marsh Street and the current C4-8 O Attachment 1 Railroad Safety Trail and Prefumo Creek Bridge Project Updates Page 6 terminus at Hathway Street will provide a direct bicycle and pedestrian route from the downtown to the Cal Poly campus. Prefumo Creek Bridge Project 4. The Council could consider negotiating further with the Windermere homeowner's association. Staff does not recommend this alternative because it would be very costly and the likelihood of receiving 100 percent property owner approval is low. 5. The Council could consider abandoning the project altogether. Staff does not recommend this alternative because there is still a need to provide an improved bicycle and pedestrian connection between the two neighborhoods. ATT UPRR letter of November 2004 I etter of November 2009 :6. Pr:efumo n o of February 2010 R Altern lignment Map and Segments Map al Photo of Alte a Alignment Creek Bridge Site' o Creek o'ectoposed LOVR Street Cross ectfon \\chstore4\Team\Council Agenda Reports\Public Works CAR\201 I\Transportation\RRST-Preftimo Update\CAR RRST-Prefumo project updates- final.doc C4-9 ATTACHMENT 2 4,1 ic ohm t , OLL CL CL J O V 1 1 N z p0 Vii. o 1 ` O v o a council MCM01ZAn0um RED FILE had C"y, email ° CDUNCD. °CDD DIR August 31, 2011 MEETING AGENDA ° CRY MGR °MDIR ° Aman a Fmclf EF DATE `/ /ITEM #�_ ° ATrD� °POUCE ° CI.ERSloRIG °POLiCE CHIEF n T0: City Council ° PM° TR °PARsssRECDIR IBUNE UMDIR ° NEWMM °HRDM crry m COUNCIL FROM: Barbara Lynch, Acting Public W ks Director ° SLO N o arY MGRVIA: Katie Lichtig, City Manager °aUR SUBJECT: Response to Council Member Ash augh's email regarding the Los Osos Valley Road Safe Routes to School Bike Path City Council Member Ashbaugh had some questions concerning the Los Osos Valley Road Safe Routes to School Bike Path consent item on the September 6`I', 2011 City Council Meeting Agenda. Staff responses are provided below after each question. 1. Is this the last opportunity-for the Council to review this project? No. Staff is just beginning to start the design phase for the alternative bike path with Cannon of San Luis Obispo. When design has been completed, the Council will be able to review the final plans and specifications when it comes to Council for approval to advertise the project for construction. 2. Has the Bicycle Advisory Committee reviewed and approved this alternative proposal? Yes. The Bicycle Advisory Committee has been kept appraised of the bike bridge/path project since its inception and is aware of the implementation of the alternative bike path. The Bicycle Advisory Committee has reviewed and approved this alternative bike path in principle. As with the City Council, the Bicycle Advisory Committee will also review the final design prior to the project being advertised for construction. 3. How is the intersection of Oceanaire Drive and LOV Rd. being designed? If you recall, when this item was discussed in May I voted against it because I did not see the detailed design or study of that intersection, and there were significant concerns about the safety of the counterflow that would occur at that location. I still don't see any design details of this key concern. As mentioned, the design phase for the alternative bike path is just beginning. Staff has made the design consultant well aware that they will need to address the transitions for vehicular flow, as well as for the two-way flow of cyclists and pedestrians on the new bike path, especially sensitive to peak use during the time when Laguna Middle School is in session. These transitions will be addressed not only at the intersection of Los Osos Valley Road and Oceanaire Drive, but also at the intersection of Los Osos Valley Road and Laguna Lane, through traffic lane relocation, traffic speed, detection and calming signage and displays, wide approaches at each end of the bike path, traffic signalization and other transition devices or methods. \\chstore4\PublicWorks\Staff-Reports-Agendas-Minutes\ CCMemos\201I\LOVR SRTS Bike Path.doc