The newly issued Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act 2015 appropriated $500 million in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant funds to be awarded by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for National Infrastructure Investments. This appropriation is similar, but not identical to previous TIGER grant programs funded in past years pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. TIGER grant funds are awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant impact on the Nation, a metropolitan area or a region.
Program Description
Since the TIGER Discretionary Grant Program was first created, $4.1 billion has been awarded for capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure over six rounds of competitive grants. The TIGER Discretionary Grant Program seeks to award projects that advance the DOT’s long term priorities for the nation’s transportation system found in DOT’s FY2014-2018 Strategic Plan. The selection criteria (based on the DOT Strategic Plan goals) are as follows:
Primary Selection Criteria
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State of Good Repair
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Economic Competitiveness
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Quality of Life
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Environmental Sustainability
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Safety
Secondary Selection Criteria
In addition, project applications are required to provide a Benefit Cost Analysis to quantify the project benefits in respect to the total project costs. Throughout the TIGER program, grant awards have supported innovative projects, including multimodal and multijurisdictional projects that are difficult to fund through traditional Federal programs. Successful TIGER projects leverage resources, encourage partnership, catalyze investment and growth, fill a critical void in the transportation system, or provide a substantial benefit to the nation, region or metropolitan area in which the project is located.
TIGER grants may not be less than $10 million or more than $200 million, except for projects in rural areas where the minimum grant size is $1 million. No more than 25% of the funds made available will be awarded to projects in a single state. Not less than 20% of the funds are for projects located in rural areas. TIGER funds may be used for up to 80% of the costs of a project and only non-federal funds are eligible as the local match. Eligible projects include highway or bridge projects (bicycle and pedestrian improvements can be included), passenger and freight rail transportation projects, port infrastructure investments and intermodal projects.
The 2015 TIGER program gives consideration to projects that seek to improve access to reliable, safe, and affordable transportation for disconnected communities in urban, suburban or rural areas. The Public Works Department has submitted grant applications for safety improvements to the TIGER grant program in the past and has not been successful.
Project Recommendations
The Public Works Department recommends the following two projects as candidates for the 2015 TIGER Discretionary Grant Program:
1. Vasco Road Safety Improvements Project - Phase 2
2. Kirker Pass Road Northbound Truck Lane Project
Both of the recommended projects are located in rural areas and are regional roadways benefiting multiple jurisdictions. Design of both these projects is already underway and significant funding shortfalls exist in order to construct the projects.
If authorized to proceed, Staff will submit TIGER grant applications on June 5 to the DOT.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has selected the Vasco Road Safety Improvements Project - Phase 2 to receive MTC regional endorsement, in addition to other candidate projects from the nine bay area counties. The Kirker Pass Road Northbound Truck Lane Project was not chosen.
The two projects are described in more detail below.
Vasco Road Safety Improvements Project - Phase 2 (Supervisor District III)
Vasco Road is a rural arterial extending from the State Route 4 south of Brentwood to Interstate 580 in Alameda County. With driver speeds ranging from 50-80 miles per hour and limited sight distance, Vasco Road has a long history of collisions from vehicles crossing the centerline into oncoming traffic. Collisions that occur are severe, causing road closures and significant delays to users.
Phase 1 of the project was completed in 2011. Phase 2 is the next phase of the project and will continue the concrete median barrier in the northerly direction through the existing 3-lane segment (approximately 1.5 miles). Phase 2 will widen the existing roadway to provide the space necessary to construct a median barrier while maintaining the current number of travel lanes. Associated signing, striping, turn pockets, retaining walls, drainage improvements, wildlife mitigation, bridge widening, and barrier end-treatments will be constructed as necessary to accommodate the installation of the median barriers.
Kirker Pass Road Northbound Truck Lane Project (Supervisor District IV, V)
Kirker Pass Road is an interregional route between Central and East Contra Costa County. The roadway is used by commuters and approximately 1,200 trucks each day. The mountainous terrain features a number of sustained grades greater than 8%. With a high volume of passenger cars, the truck traffic along the roadway contributes to significant congestion during peak hours. The addition of truck lanes along the roadway would reduce congestion and improve safety along the roadway.
The project will improve safety and reduce congestion along Kirker Pass Road by constructing a truck climbing lane in the northbound direction. The project is approximately 1 mile in length, beginning at the Concord Pavilion and ending at the northern Hess Road intersection. Pavement widening is proposed on the east side of the roadway to provide a 12-foot truck lane and 8-foot paved shoulder. Widening will require significant retaining walls due to the existing slopes and drainage adjacent to the roadway. |