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7.
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| TRANSPORTATION, WATER & INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE |
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| Information |
| Referral History: |
On April 28, 2017 the Governor signed Senate Bill 1 (SB1), which is known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. SB1 creates the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) which provides much needed transportation funding for California to address basic road maintenance, rehabilitation, and critical safety needs on both the state highway and local streets and road system.
SB1 includes new performance and reporting requirements in order to be eligible for the RMRA funds. Given this is a new program with new requirements, The Transportation, Water, and Infrastructure Committee (TWIC) has not discussed this issue in the past. The information and recommendations in this report, once approved by the TWIC and the Board of Supervisors, will fulfill these new requirements. |
| Referral Update: |
SB1 funds will be available to cities and counties starting in Fiscal Year 2017/18. The California State Association of Counties has provided the estimated revenues the County can expect that will be generated from this transportation bill. The first year of the program is a partial year and the County expects to receive a total of $5.9 million in addition to our normal gas tax allocation. Of this $5.9 million, $4.9 million is from the RMRA program under SB1 and the remainder comes from repayments of loans to the state during the economic recession that started in 2008. We expect the RMRA amount to increase to $13.8 million for Fiscal Year 2018/19 and steadily grow with the built-in inflationary index in future years.
SB1 emphasizes the importance of accountability and transparency in the delivery of California’s transportation programs. Therefore, in order to be eligible for RMRA funding, state statute requires cities and counties to provide basic RMRA project reporting to the Commission.
Prior to receiving an apportionment of RMRA funds from the Controller in a fiscal year, a city or county must submit to the Commission a list of projects proposed to be funded with these funds. All projects proposed to receive funding must be included in a city or county budget that is adopted by the applicable city council or county board of supervisors at a regular public meeting.
The list of projects must include a description and location of each proposed project, a proposed schedule for the project’s completion, and the estimated useful life of the improvement (see attachment A – project list using the Commission recommended template). The project list does not limit the flexibility of an eligible city or county to fund projects in accordance with local needs and priorities so long as the projects are consistent with RMRA priorities as outlined in the applicable code sections. Some example projects and uses for RMRA funding include, but are not limited to the following:
• Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation
• Safety Projects
• Railroad Grade Separations
• Complete Streets Components (including active transportation purposes, pedestrian and bicycle safety projects, transit facilities, and drainage and stormwater capture projects in conjunction with any other allowable project)
• Traffic Control Devices
Streets and Highways Code Section 2030(b)(2) states that funds made available by the program may also be used to satisfy a match requirement in order to obtain state or federal funds for projects authorized by this subdivision.
Rationale for Project List Selection for FY 17/18 RMRA Allocation
Staff has developed a recommended list of projects for TWIC and the Board of Supervisors to consider for submitting to the Commission.
When developing the recommended project list for RMRA funds, staff considered:
• Eligibility criteria for RMRA funds*
• Emergency storm damage projects that exceeded existing road fund revenue capacity
• Maintenance and rehabilitation priorities
• Roadway safety
• Expiring grants where local funds are necessary to complete the funding package
• Geographic equity
• Projects where expenditures had already occurred for design of the project and had been shelved due to declining revenues
• Multi-modal benefits in accordance with the Board of Supervisor’s Complete Streets policy
• Positive impact to Road Program performance metrics
• Clearing the queue of delayed projects that were a result of declining gas tax revenues
• Meeting customer expectations
It should be noted that this project list is a small subset of the proposed project delivery list that is outlined in the adopted Capital Road Improvement and Preservation Program document and only focuses on how the RMRA funds will be expended as required by the Commission.
The recommended RMRA project list is included in Appendix A (using the Commission recommended template) and is summarized as follows:
• Morgan Territory Road Slide Repair (2017 Storm Damage Project) – The Morgan Territory Road Slide Repair project is a result of the devastating storms of 2017. The Department’s Road Program was hit with a large unexpected expenditure to restore temporary access for over 200 residents and to move forward with permanent restoration of the road. This multi-million dollar effort exceeded the normal Road Program revenues. Fortunately, approximately 70% of the project cost will be reimbursed through FEMA and Cal OES. The remaining 30% of the project cost will need to be paid for from local sources, totaling approximately $1.8 million (total project cost $6 million). With reduced gas tax revenue, this amount exceeds the capacity of the Road Program revenues.
• Alhambra Valley Road Washout Repair (2017 Storm Damage Project) – The Alhambra Valley Road Washout Repair project is also a result of the devastating storms of 2017. Similar to the Morgan Territory Road Slide Repair, the cost of temporary and permanent restoration of this critical road exceeded the capacity of the Road Program’s revenues. This project is eligible for Federal Highway Administration emergency funds. However, we are still responsible for approximately 30% of the expenditures as the local share of the project. The local share is approximately $1.2 million (total project cost $4 million) and exceeded the capacity of the Road Program’s revenues.
• Pomona Street Pedestrian Safety Improvement Project – Phase II (2-year Delayed Project)
This project was designed and shelved due to declining gas tax revenues prior to adoption of SB1. The project is an active transportation project and improves safety for pedestrians near schools in the Crockett area by installing a rapid repeating flashing beacon, bulb outs, and curb ramps at Pomona Street and Rolph Avenue. The Department received a Transportation Development Act Grant for $120,000 and will expire next year if the project is not constructed. Staff recommends allocating $215,200 in RMRA funds (construction cost $249,800) to augment Phillips 66 funds and gas tax to construct the project in 2018.
• Bay Point Asphalt Rubber Cape Seal (3-year Delayed Project) – This project was designed and shelved due to declining gas tax revenues prior to adoption of SB1. This project was a preventative maintenance project. The roads were identified using the Department’s Street Saver database as needing preventative maintenance. Any further delay in funding this project may require a more expensive preventative or rehabilitative surface treatment. The project has been designed and is ready to bid. The design costs would be a sunk cost if the project does not move forward. The estimated RMRA allocation towards construction of the project is $1.2 million (construction cost $2.5 million).
• Tara Hills Pedestrian Infrastructure Project (2-year Delayed Project) – This project was designed and shelved due to declining gas tax revenues prior to adoption of SB1. The project is an active transportation project and improves safety for pedestrians near schools in the Tara Hills area by constructing ADA ramps and bulb-outs. The Department received a Transportation Development Act Grant for $83,000 and will expire next year if the project is not constructed. Staff recommends allocating $220,000 in RMRA funds (construction cost $420,000) to augment gas tax, Measure J Return to Source funds, and the Transportation Development Act grant to construct the project in 2018.
• Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements – Central & East County (2-year Delayed Project) – This project was designed and shelved due to the declining gas tax revenues prior to adoption of SB1. The project is an active transportation project and improves pedestrian safety in central and east county by installing rapid flash beacons and ADA curb ramps at designated crosswalks near schools. The Department received a Transportation Development Act Grant for $200,000 and will expire next year if the project is not constructed. Staff recommends allocating $290,000 in RMRA funds (construction cost $518,600) to augment gas tax and the Transportation Development Act Funds to construct the project in 2018.
• Blackhawk Road Bikeway Project (1-year Delayed Project) – This project was designed and shelved due to the declining gas tax revenues prior to adoption of SB1. The project is an active transportation project and improves bicycle safety in south county by designating a dedicated bike lane on Blackhawk Road. The Department received a Transportation Development Act Grant for $100,000 and will expire at the end of FY 18/19 if the project is not constructed. Staff recommends allocating $140,000 in RMRA funds (construction cost $275,000) to augment gas tax and the Transportation Development Act grant funds to construct the project in 2018.
The overall strategy for this partial year of RMRA funds was to 1) clear as many delayed projects as possible from the queue with 2) a balanced approach that met the road program mission to provide a safe, efficient, reliable, and accessible transportation system.
With the annual reporting requirement, the Department will begin strategizing how the County can allocate the new funding to achieve the Road Program’s mission and improve the program’s key performance metrics for safety, efficiency, reliability, and accessibility.
* RMRA Guidelines are available here:
http://catc.ca.gov/programs/SB_1/071817_Draft_LSR_Program_Reporting_Guidelines.pdf |
| Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s): |
| REVIEW the recommended list of Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) (Senate Bill 1) funded road projects, RECEIVE public comment and DIRECT staff to perform any changes or revisions to the recommended project list. RECOMMEND the Board of Supervisors receive public comment, revise as appropriate, approve project list, approve a budget amendment for the new funding, and direct staff to proceed with submitting the Fiscal Year 2017/18 RMRA list of projects to the California Transportation Commission (Commission) prior to the October 16, 2017 submittal deadline for approval. |
| Fiscal Impact (if any): |
If a project list is not reviewed by TWIC, forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for approval, and submitted to the Commission by the October 16, 2017 deadline, the County will not be eligible to receive its portion of RMRA funds and the projects listed above will not be constructed.
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