Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
STATUS UPDATE FOR PROJ. 919: WILMINGTON AVENUE INTERCHANGE MODIFICATION AT THE I-405 FREEWAY (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
The Carson Successor Agency and the City Council are undertaking Project No. 919: Wilmington Avenue Interchange Modification at the I-405 Freeway. The project includes the construction of a new northbound on-ramp, widening Wilmington Avenue from 223rd Street to 220th Street, modifying the existing southbound on-ramp, and constructing a right-turn lane from Wilmington Avenue northbound to 223rd Street eastbound by widening the existing bridge over the Dominguez Channel (Exhibit No. 1). The project also includes a renovated grade crossing at the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) right of way.
As of February 2018, the contractor had completed 95% of the project, but completion has been delayed while working to resolve a complex UPRR grade crossing signal communication issue between UPRR and Caltrans. Staff is providing an update on Project 919: Wilmington Avenue Interchange Modification at the I-405 Freeway as materials are expected to arrive mid-October and the contractor will commence the balance of the work soon thereafter. The majority of the project will be completed by December 2019.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following action:
Receive and File.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate, consistent with the requirements of the law.
IV. BACKGROUND
As of February 2018, approximately 95% of the improvements per the original plans and specifications including changes due to field conditions and changes requested by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) have been completed. Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) has also completed the majority of their scope of work at the railroad grade crossing on Wilmington Avenue adjacent to the I-405 freeway southbound on/off ramps.
Although UPRR’s improvements are substantially complete, they are currently not in operation due to their incompatibility with Caltrans’ traffic controller cabinet. Based on the current status, only two temporary warning beacon lights are being utilized in each traffic direction along Wilmington Avenue at the railroad crossing, and UPRR has limited the number of open thru-lanes to two. Staff proposed some alternatives and requested that UPRR consider opening all thru-lanes, but the requests were denied, therefore both number one lanes for the southbound and northbound directions are delineated and remain closed.
Since the UPRR signal equipment is immediately adjacent to Caltrans right-of-way, which has several traffic signals owned and operated by Caltrans, both UPRR’s safety components and Caltrans’ traffic signals must have a preemption system in place that would allow automatic communication and synchronization with each other in order for all the safety features to function.
In 2016, CPUC issued a directive to Caltrans requiring a more robust pre-emptive system than what Caltrans had originally approved to be implemented for this project. The CPUC’s new requirements caused design revisions to the 2012 Caltrans-approved plans. The City’s contractor placed the conductors per plan; however, recent CPUC requirements mandate additional conductors and additional regulatory signs, which were not identified by Caltrans until most of the improvements had been constructed, and the issue became more apparent when Caltrans and UPRR were requested by the City to begin system operation.
The revised plans based on the new pre-emption system requirements generated additional traffic safety features that need to be installed in order to satisfy the requirements of CPUC and Caltrans. These roadway traffic features involve placement of several traffic regulatory signs, pulling additional conductors, modification of curb ramps, painting of pavement markings, fabrication and installation of an additional signal head along with traffic loop detectors and slight adjustments to warning-beacon lights.
In November 2018 the City corresponded with Caltrans requesting that they start their procurement of the State Furnished Materials (SFM) for the pre-emption system. In May 2019 a conference call was held between the City, County, UPRR, Caltrans and CPUC to discuss a tentative date for the cut-over, since the contractor was anticipating that the electrical items were to arrive the following month. During this call, it was agreed upon by all parties that the cut-over would be conducted on July 2, 2019. In early June 2019, Caltrans notified the City and Contractor that the State would not be able to provide the SFM and that procurement of the SFM would now fall to the City’s contractor. On June 10, 2019, a conference call was held with UPRR, Caltrans, OHL USA (Contractor), Parsons (Project Designer) and City to discuss solutions or alternatives to maintain the July 2nd cut-over date. Unfortunately, it was concluded that the cut-over date had to be postponed primarily due to the long lead times associated with the SFM.
The majority of the materials have now arrived, and a conference call will be held in October to coordinate a November cut-over date. It is anticipated that the cut- over will go smoothly and the remaining work will be completed by the end of December 2019 so that all thru lanes can be open to traffic. Once all of the remaining improvements have been completed and all inspections and punch list items have been thoroughly reviewed and verified, staff will present an agenda item to the City Council to accept the project as complete.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
None. Based on expected completion date of December 2019, no additional funding will be required.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Existing and Future Layouts.
Prepared by: Raymond Velasco P.E., Senior Civil Engineer