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C. 3

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Brian M. Balbas, Public Works Director/Chief Engineer
Date:	August 14, 2018

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Submission of grant applications to Caltrans, Countywide.

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 08/14/2018

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

ABSENT:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor

Contact:

Mary Halle, 925.313.2327

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: August 14, 2018
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE the submission of grant applications to the State of California, Department of Transportation (Caltrans) under the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), as recommended by the Public Works Director, Countywide.

FISCAL IMPACT:

If approved, grants would generate funding from the State - Department of Transportation.

BACKGROUND:

The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) is a core federal-aid program to States for the purpose of achieving a significant reduction in fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads. The Division of Local Assistance (DLA) at Caltrans manages California’s local agencies’ share of HSIP funds. California's Local HSIP focuses on infrastructure projects with nationally recognized crash reduction factors (CRFs). Local HSIP projects must be identified on the basis of crash experience, crash potential, crash rate, or other data-supported means.

The Public Works Department has historically submitted grant applications for the HSIP. This is the 9^th cycle of the HSIP. The County has experienced significant success in receiving funding through this program. The Public Works Department is currently working with a consultant team to prepare a Vision Zero Safety Program for the County. Submittal of project candidates for funding will assist the County in achieving the goals that will be identified for the Vision Zero Safety Program.

This is the third time that agencies are asked to submit projects under specific categories. The application categories include:

Common Benefit Cost Ratio Application
Set-aside for High Friction Surface Treatment
Set-aside for Guardrail Upgrades
Set-aside for Horizontal Curve Signing
Set-aside for pedestrian Crossing Enhancements
Set-aside for Tribes

PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS
The data base of collisions throughout unincorporated Contra Costa was used to generate a list of the locations with the highest rate of incidents. Staff found that many of the most frequent collision locations coincide with recently completed capital improvement projects or sites currently in design. This is a positive indication that the past HSIP funds have been programmed to the locations with the highest need.

After a review of the last 5 years of collision data, staff has developed a recommended list of candidate projects to compete for HSIP funding. The descriptions below provide the relative frequency of collisions that have occurred at these locations. The proposed candidate projects and the corresponding submittal category are indicated below:

Common Benefit Cost Ratio Category
Projects in this category are rated solely upon the benefit to cost ratio. The State has pre-determined a percentage of future collisions that can be avoided on average by a specific countermeasure. The selected countermeasure and crash reduction factor provides the calculation for potential benefit for a proposed project. The project cost is estimated and then a ratio is calculated of the potential benefit to estimated cost. A project must meet a minimum benefit to cost ratio of 3.5 to be eligible for consideration.

Appian Way Complete Street – Roundabout at Valley View
The project is located along Appian Way between Valley View and San Pablo Dam Road in the El Sobrante area. The application will include improvements intended to calm traffic, improve safety at pedestrian crossings, and provide pedestrian and bicycle improvements to meet current standards. The intersections at San Pablo Dam Road and Valley View ranked the 12^th and 36^th highest for collision incident locations in the County. The project limits will be adjusted depending on the project size that can be supported based upon the calculated benefit.

Bailey Road Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvement Project
The project is located along Bailey Road between Canal Road and Willow Pass Road in the Bay Point area. The application will include pedestrian crossing improvements to improve pedestrian safety and visibility and potential median improvements to discourage mid-block crossings. The project will also include narrowing of travel lanes to calm traffic, striping of buffered bike lanes, and installation of a buffer between pedestrians and the traveled way. The intersections at Canal Road and Willow Pass Road ranked the 1^st and 9^th highest incident locations.

Deer Valley Road Safety Enhancement Project
The project is located on Deer Valley Road between the City of Antioch and Marsh Creek Road. Countermeasures will be proposed to reduce run off the road injury collisions. The likely countermeasure will be installation of rumble strips although further study of options will be conducted prior to application submittal. This road segment is ranked 41^st for locations with high collision incidents.


Set-Aside for High Friction Surface Treatment
Norris Canyon Road Safety Enhancement Project
The proposed project is located on Norris Canyon Road between Ashbourne Drive and the Alameda County limits in the San Ramon area. The project will consist of a high friction surface treatment and installation of guardrail to reduce run off the road collisions. This location ranked 25^th on the list for collision incidents.

Set-Aside for Guardrail Upgrades
Guardrail Upgrades Countywide – Guardrail standards have been modified in recent years to raise the standard height to better coincide with the average height of modern vehicles and to design end treatments that absorb energy and retract upon impact. The County was awarded grant funds in Cycle 8 to upgrade guardrails. If awarded funding through Cycle 9, the County would be able to continue guardrail upgrades to bring this element of our road network up to current standard across all the primary routes through the unincorporated area.

Conceptual Design Underway
The recommended projects are based upon the locations with the highest rate of injury collisions. While staff is preparing these applications, they will consider all the available tools or countermeasures available to reduce future collisions and prepare the corresponding cost estimate for those countermeasures. If during preparation of the grant applications, a project does not meet this minimum benefit cost ratio of 3.5:1, it will not be submitted.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

If staff is not authorized to submit applications, grant funding will not be available, which will delay the design and construction of these projects.