| Plans and Programs Committee - April 21, 2009 |
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AGENDA PLANS AND PROGRAMS COMMITTEEMeeting Notice Date: 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 21, 2009 1. Roll Call 2. Approval of Minutes of the March 17, 2009 Meeting - ACTION* attachment 3. Citizens Advisory Committee Report - INFORMATION* attachment 4. Recommend Appointment of One Member to the Citizens Advisory Committee - ACTION* attachment The Authority has an eleven-member Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC). CAC members serve two-year terms. Per the Authority's Administrative Code, the Plans and Programs Committee recommends and the Authority Board appoints individuals to fill any CAC vacancies. Neither Authority staff nor the CAC make any recommendations on CAC appointments, but we maintain an up-to-date database of applications for CAC membership. A chart with information about current CAC members is attached, showing ethnicity, gender, neighborhood of residence, and affiliation. There is one vacancy on the CAC requiring Committee action. The vacancy resulted from the resignation of Anita Madrigal. Following ongoing recruitment outreach and publicity, we received two additional applications to fill the vacant seat, since the March Committee meeting, for a total of 45 applicants. We are seeking a recommendation to appoint one member to the CAC. 5. Recommend Allocation of $126,194 in Prop K Funds, with Conditions, to the Municipal Transportation Agency for the Citywide Bicycle Counters Project, Subject to the Attached Fiscal Year Cash Flow Distribution Schedule and 5-Year Prioritization Program Amendment, and Amendment of Three Prop B Standard Grant Agreements to Fully Fund the $140,000 Project - ACTION* attachment The Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) has developed a $140,000 project to procure and install 16 bicycle counters at seven locations across the city, as well as two modems with wireless service to enable collection of data from two of the seven locations without the need to staff to visit the sites. The seven proposed locations are subject to change following site surveys completed by the contractor and coordination with the Department of Public Works' repaving schedule. Data from the bicycle counters will be much more robust and comprehensive than is currently available through the limited manual counts that the MTA performs annually. The MTA proposes to fund the counter project with $126,194 in de-obligated Prop K funds from two Prop K grants and $13,806 in remaining Prop B funds from three completed projects. Funding the project will require concurrent approval of the Prop K de-obligations, amendment of the Bicycle Circulation/Safety 5-Year Prioritization Program (5YPP) to add the Citywide Bicycle Counter Project and the de-obligated funds, and amendment of the Prop B grants to allow the remaining funds to be used for the counter project. The MTA anticipates procurement, site surveys, and installation of the counters all to begin in the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2008/09 and be completed during the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2009/10. We are seeking a recommendation to allocate $126,194 in Prop K funds, with conditions, to the MTA for the Citywide Bicycle Counters Project, subject to the Attached Fiscal Year Cash Flow Distribution Schedule and 5YPP amendment, and amendment of three Prop B Standard Grant Agreements to fully fund the $140,000 project. 6. Recommend the Appropriation of $717,000 in Prop K Funds, with Conditions, for the Environmental Phase of the 19th Avenue Transit Preferential Streets Bulb-Outs Project, Subject to the Attached Fiscal Year Cash Flow Distribution Schedule - ACTION* attachment In May 2008, through approval of Resolution 08-75, the Authority Board adopted the 19th Avenue/Park Presidio Boulevard (19th Avenue/PPB) Transportation Plan, which recommends a program of projects to improve pedestrian safety, transit operations, and the appearance of the 19th Avenue corridor, with the intent of creating greater balance among the various functions and users of the street. One of the high priority projects identified in the plan is the construction of corner bulb-outs to improve pedestrian and transit conditions along the corridor. The bulb-outs are intended to improve bus operations by speeding the process of boarding and alighting passengers, and improve walking conditions by shortening crossing distances and increasing pedestrian visibility to drivers. Consistent with the recommendations of the Plan, we are seeking appropriation of $717,000 in Prop K funds for the environmental phase of the 19th Avenue Transit Preferential Streets Bulb-Outs Project, which includes bus and pedestrian corner bulb-outs at 22 intersections along the 19th Avenue corridor between Lincoln Way and Junipero Serra Boulevard. Since 19th Avenue and Park Presidio Boulevard together comprise U.S. Highway 1 through the City, Caltrans must review and approve the design of all improvements to the streets. The requested Prop K funds will allow the project team to complete documents required by Caltrans including a Project Study Report/Project Report (PSR/PR) and Environmental Document (ED). The Authority will lead the effort utilizing our on-call project management and oversight consultant team (Cordoba/Zurinaga Joint Venture) and HNTB, a sub-consultant. The Department of Public Works and the Municipal Transportation Agency will support the required PSR/PR tasks with scope relevant to each agency's expertise. We are seeking a recommendation to appropriate $717,000 in Prop K funds, with conditions, for the environmental phase of the 19th Avenue Transit Preferential Streets Bulb-Outs Project, subject to the attached Fiscal Year Cash Flow Distribution Schedule. 7. Recommend the Amendment of the Municipal Transportation Agency's Market Street Calm the Safety Zone Project (Resolution 06-43, Project Number 101.910001) to Revise the Scope, Schedule and Budget - ACTION* attachment The Plans and Programs Committee considered the subject amendment at its February 10, 2009 meeting and after discussion and public input, continued the item to allow time for the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) and Authority staff to give consideration to a project that included colored pavement in the safety zone, as well as other Committee comments. Since then, Authority staff has met with MTA staff and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition to address the Committee's concerns, and MTA has made modifications to the scope. The MTA will install a crosshatched pavement edge marking in the safety zone area instead of an edge line, the pedestrian crossing stencils have been replaced with a pilot of a chain and bollard system on the sidewalk at one safety zone to discourage jaywalking, and the MTA will undertake a separate pilot project that deals specifically with high-visibility colored pavement in at least one safety zone. The original scope of the project included colored high-visibility pavement and the installation of an edge stripe in the safety zones, an advanced stop bar between the safety zone and the pedestrian crosswalk to begin the demarcation of an advanced bicycle box, and the installation of signage and reflective warning devices at 19 safety zones on Market Street between Justin Herman Plaza and Octavia Boulevard. The main scope revision is the removal of colored pavement in the safety zone. In February 2006, the MTA asked the California Traffic Control Device Committee (CTCDC) for its opinion on the use of yellow for the colored high-visibility pavement in the safety zones. The CTCDC rejected its use because yellow is a standard color with specific applications (e.g. separating directional traffic flow) and therefore cannot be used for the safety zones. The CTCDC did state that another color could possibly be used; however, MTA believes that any other color would warrant further study and has since proposed a significant re-scoping of the project to install other traffic calming treatments in the safety zones, while making a high-visibility colored pavement project the subject of a future Prop K allocation request. We are seeking a recommendation to amend the MTA's Market Street Calm the Safety Zone Project (Resolution 06-43, Project Number 101.910001) to revise the scope, schedule and budget. 8. Recommend Endorsement of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's Proposal for the State Element of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and Programming of $932,297 in ARRA Transportation Enhancement Funds to Two Municipal Transportation Agency Projects - ACTION* attachment On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Among its other provisions, the ARRA specifies $48 billion for the Federal Department of Transportation. ARRA sub-allocates a portion of the transportation funds to be programmed directly by state and regional transportation planning agencies. On March 27, 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger signed ABX3 20 into law, defining the state's strategy for distributing its share of ARRA funds. ABX3 20 re-directed $1.6 billion (62.5%) of the total $2.57 billion of state element ARRA funds to the state's regional transportation planning agencies to program, and committed the remaining $625 million to the State Highway Operation and Protection Program. As a result, the Bay Area will receive from the state element of the ARRA $157.3 million in Non-Transportation Enhancements (TE) funds (i.e., Surface Transportation Program (STP)) and $9.6 million in Transportation Enhancements (TE) funds. These are all Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) funds, and are in addition to the $494 million in regional element ARRA funds that MTC programmed in February 2009. MTC's staff recommendation includes a total of $133.8 million of non-TE state element ARRA funds for ready-to-go regionally significant highway projects (e.g. Prop 1B funded highway projects), which will free up $120 million in state Prop 1B bond funds for use on other regional priorities at a later date. San Francisco doesn't have any projects on this list because we did not have any Prop 1B highway projects. MTC has proposed to provide another $23.4 million to the congestion management agencies (CMAs) for programming to local streets and roads system preservation projects. This would make available an additional $2.19 million in state element ARRA funds for the Authority to program to eligible local streets and roads projects on top of the $11.35 million of regional element ARRA funds that the Authority approved in February for five projects. We are awaiting further guidance from MTC on these funds and will bring a specific project list to the Plans and Programs Committee for approval in May. Finally, the ARRA TE funds are distributed to CMAs for programming based upon an existing State allocation formula. MTC's proposal gives top priority to project readiness given the very tight use-it-or-lose-it deadlines associated with ARRA funds. MTC's recommendation is to program a total of $932,297 - higher than San Francisco's county share TE target of $797,000 - to two Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) projects: the Inner Sunset Traffic Calming Project and the Pedestrian Signal Upgrade Project. Details regarding these projects and the rationale for funding them are provided in the memo below. We are seeking a recommendation to endorse MTC's proposal for the state element of the ARRA and to program $932,297 in ARRA TE funds to two MTA projects. 9. Status Report on Third Street Light Rail Project, Phase 2 - Central Subway- INFORMATION* attachment Phase 2 of the Municipal Transportation Agency's (MTA's) Third Street Light Rail Project, known as the Central Subway, will extend service north from King Street along Fourth Street, entering a tunnel north of Bryant Street, crossing beneath Market Street, and running under Stockton Street to Stockton and Washington Streets. Twin lined running tunnels will also be extended to Columbus Ave. between Union and Filbert Streets. A surface station will be provided near Brannan Street, and underground stations will be located at Moscone Center, Union Square, and Chinatown. The project now has both state and federal environmental clearance, and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued the Record of Decision in November 2008. MTA has completed preliminary engineering for the project and is proceeding with advanced preliminary engineering, which is concentrating on the early construction packages, preparations to enter into final design, and conducting additional community outreach. The arts program for the project is underway under the direction of the San Francisco Arts Commission. Discussions regarding the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the MTA and the Arts Commission, which defines the parties' roles and responsibilities, were concluded in March 2009. The budget for the arts program has been set at $14,500,000 and the MOA is being readied for the respective Board's ratification. The FTA, together with the project team and the Authority, just completed a nine-month Risk Assessment evaluation of the project, which analyzed and evaluated in detail technical, schedule, commercial, and external aspects of the project from a risk and probability perspective. As a result of this review, FTA recommended that additional cost and schedule reserve contingency be added to ensure the project's success. Specifically, this review resulted in a revised project budget of $1.578 billion compared to the original $1.3 billion, and a new completion date of December 2018 instead of the original 2016 date. Also as a result of the assessment, FTA indicated that it will support an increased federal (New Starts) share for the project and higher annual funding allocation levels, both of which will contribute significantly to minimize borrowing costs and covering the increased funding needs triggered by the higher project cost. This is an information item.
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