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Receive and approve Solano County’s Amended Public Works Five Year Capital Improvement Plan for FY2018/19 through FY2022/23 from the Department of Resource Management
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No __X_
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No __X_
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Resource Management recommends that the Board of Supervisors receive and approve Solano County’s Amended Public Works Five Year Capital Improvement Plan for FY2018/19 through FY2022/23 from the Department of Resource Management.
SUMMARY:
The County Public Works Five Year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is updated annually by the Department of Resource Management, and was last approved by the Board on September 24, 2017. The CIP reflects a prioritized list of road and bridge projects that would maintain the County’s road and bridge infrastructure at a higher level than in the past three years, with advanced improvements to various roads and bridges.
The recent passage of State Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, establishes a new statewide gas tax that will continue to be phased in over the next 2 years. Funding through SB 1 augments current road project funding and allows agencies to maintain and improve road infrastructure to meet demands. Predominately, the tax revenue is distributed formulaically in the same fashion as the existing Highway Users Tax Account (HUTA or “Gas Tax”), which is a significant benefit for local roads. SB 1 establishes new requirements for expenditure of the SB 1 revenue, including project submission to the California Transportation Commission (CTC), limitations on the types of projects that may be funded under SB 1, and annual reporting. SB 1 also requires the Board of Supervisors to review and approve the County’s SB 1 projects for expenditure in FY2018/19.
With the Board’s approval of the CIP (attached), the Department will submit the SB 1 projects listed in the CIP to the CTC in anticipation of the revenues being utilized for these projects in FY2018/19.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The California State Association of Counties (CSAC) latest estimate for SB 1 revenue in FY2018/19 for Solano County is $6,010,000, which is in addition to the estimated $8,054,000 of HUTA gas tax revenue. While the SB 1 revenue must be spent on Road Fund related projects, there is no local match commitment for these funds. Therefore, there is no potential Road Fund or General Fund impact in receiving these new revenues.
DISCUSSION:
SB 1 establishes specific requirements for Solano County to properly expend the new revenues and to make project expenditures more transparent to the public, including annual reporting and life cycle analysis to gage the success of the new measure. The CTC adopted guidelines to assist agencies with implementation of SB 1. Based on the law and CTC’s guidelines, it is understood that:
1. Revenue from SB 1 must be prioritized for basic road maintenance and safety projects. The County’s SB 1 funds can be spent on other types of Road Fund eligible projects because Solano County’s Pavement Condition Index (PCI) meets or exceeds 80.
2. Per SB 1, Solano County also needs to consider plans to incorporate technologies and material recycling techniques into projects, where feasible, that lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the cost of maintaining local streets and roads. Regular maintenance habits on higher PCI pavements, like our maintenance program, are recognized for reduced GHG emissions versus more intensive rehabilitation strategies. In addition, the CIP incorporates the use of recycled tire rubber in some of the road maintenance projects.
3. The County must submit an annual report at the end of each fiscal year to the CTC that includes a description and location of each completed project, the amount of funds expended, the completion date, and the estimated useful life of the improvement. The first annual report for FY2017/18 is due October 1, 2018.
Prior to SB 1, the CIP contained a relatively large list of deferred and unfunded projects due to the depressed tax revenues resulting from the lower price of fuel. The revenues from SB 1 will allow the CIP to fund more projects in FY2018/19 that maintain or improve the County’s roads, bridges, culverts, sidewalks, signage, striping, and signalized intersections. In compiling this year’s CIP, the Department is largely advancing projects that had been deferred or which remained unfunded due to lack of available funding. Projects included in the CIP over the next two years include the following:
• FEMA Storm Damage Repair Project 2018 will address the permanent and final repairs that will be completed by contract in fall of 2018, including Cantelow Road, Gates Canyon Road, and Steiger Hills Road.
• Culvert Repair Project 2018 will replace two large culverts on Cherry Glen Road.
• Hay and Hawkins Roads Shoulder Improvements will widen shoulders and overlay portions of these roads.
• HSIP 8 Striping Improvements will place upgraded thermoplastic striping on 140 miles of roads.
• HSIP 8 Guardrail Improvements will upgrade guardrail at 22 locations.
• Farrell Road Intersection Improvements at Gibson Canyon Road will improve the intersection approaches.
• Culvert Repair Project 2019 will replace two large culverts on Cantelow Road.
• Farm to Market Phase 3 Improvements will widen and overlay portions of Abernathy Road, Mankas Corners Road, and Suisun Valley Road.
• Timm Road Improvements will widen, overlay, and provide vertical grade improvements to portions of the road north of Peaceful Glen Road.
• Overlay Project 2019 - Midway Road will overlay a portion of Midway Road.
• Stevenson Bridge Rehabilitation will retrofit the bridge for improved seismic capacity, as well as improve the southern road alignment.
• Various light pavement maintenance projects are included, such as chipseals, microsurfacing seals, and asphalt rubber chipseals.
• Various right of way acquisitions are included to potentially create better design options and enhance upcoming projects.
The Department has worked to balance the new revenues between the existing shortfalls of the HUTA Gas Tax, where the Department had significant net Road Fund costs over the last three years, against new project delivery capacity. Generally, the Department is taking a cautionary approach to large discretionary projects until SB 1 is fully realized in FY2019/20, with a total anticipated revenue of $6,080,000. Constraints in Department staffing, consultant and contractor availability, and potential project cost escalation are all issues to be watched.
The CIP anticipates approximately $80 million in improvements over the next 5 years, with approximately $12 million that remains unfunded. This is a significant improvement from the CIP of FY2016/17 that had $32 million unfunded.
Long Term Plans and Projects
Prior to SB 1, many agencies had difficulty planning large and longer term projects without having federal grant funds to support “front end” project costs related to environmental clearance, design, and right of way. The fluctuations of HUTA funds in the past also created risks that projects that were planned today may have no future funding. A significant benefit of SB 1 is that agencies now have stable funding that allows for long term planning for larger multi-year and regionally coordinated projects. Larger projects also typically require right of way acquisition, as well as utility relocation work which can add significant amounts of time to scheduled delivery. The Department included some larger projects to the CIP that can be planned over the next 5 years:
1. Benicia Road improvements, which includes sidewalk, striping, light pole relocation, and transit stop improvements from Beach Street to Interstate 80. The Department will work with the City of Vallejo to coordinate the City/County interface.
2. McCormack Road Reconstruction Phase 1, which will begin conversion of this regionally significant gravel road into a paved road meeting full County Road Improvement standards. The Department will work with the City of Rio Vista to coordinate the City/County interface.
3. Improvements to modernize signalized intersections and street lights.
4. Improvements at the Fairfield and Rio Vista Corporation Yards are needed due to the aged condition of the buildings and yards. The Department also plans to review the long term viability of the Vacaville Corporation Yard due to its aged condition and inefficient location within the City of Vacaville.
5. Putah Creek Road shoulder improvements, which will provide fully connected bike lanes from Winters to Stevenson Bridge Road.
6. Investment in more technologically advanced equipment that will reduce some of the more labor intensive duties of Operations Division.
Projects which are listed with unfunded amounts remain candidates for other state and federal grants. SB 1 is generating significant increases to competitive grants, such as the Congested Corridors Program (freeway and highway relievers) and Active Transportation Program (bike/pedestrian). The Department will continue to seek all appropriate grants to enhance project budgets and reserve the County’s SB 1 and Road Funds.
The Department will be working with the Solano Transportation Authority, the seven Cities and other interested partner agencies to plan longer term projects over the next decade, including the Suisun Parkway connection to Highway 12/29, Suisun Valley Road regional traffic improvements (traffic flow from Napa County), and other impacted regionally significant routes.
The CIP provides a balanced approach to maintaining and improving the County’s infrastructure in FY2018/19. The Department will continue its goal to deliver as much project work and road maintenance within available existing engineering and operations staffing. With the Board’s approval of the CIP, the Department will work to construct those projects listed for FY2018/19, and plan projects listed in the years following.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board could choose to revise the CIP within the limitations of available revenues from local, state and federal sources as it wishes. This is not recommended as the CIP provided by the Department provides a recommended list of priorities for the maintenance and construction of County roads and bridges in FY2018/19, in compliance with SB 1 requirements.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel’s Office has reviewed and approved this item as to form.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION