Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, October 06, 2020
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
REPORT ON $8.25 MILLION AWARDED FOR CITY OF CARSON PROJECTS THROUGH MEASURE M MULTI-YEAR SUBREGIONAL PROGRAM - SOUTH BAY SUBREGION (CITY COUNCIL)
Body
I. SUMMARY
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board recently approved a total of $8.25 million for three projects in the City of Carson. The Project List and location maps are in Exhibit No. 1 and 2.
|
Project Title |
Funds Programmed |
Funding Years |
|
Carson Street Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Project |
$700,000 |
FY 21 and FY22 |
|
Sepulveda Boulevard Widening from Alameda Street to ICTF |
$6,019,999 |
FY 21, FY22 and FY23 |
|
Avalon Boulevard Traffic Signal Synchronization Program (TSSP) |
$1,530,000 |
FY21, FY22 and FY23 |
|
Total |
$8,249,999 |
|
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
RECEIVE and FILE.
Body
III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate consistent with the requirements of the law.
IV. BACKGROUND
Over the past few months, City engineering staff prepared, refined, and worked with the South Bay Cities Council of Government (SBCCOG) and Metro staff to submit several applications for transportation project funding.
Three of the projects that were submitted were selected for Measure M Multi-Year Subregional Program (MSP) - South Bay Subregion funding under the South Bay Highway Operational Improvements category.
The Highway Operational Improvements category include those projects which would improve regional mobility and system performance, enhance safety by reducing conflicts, improve traffic flow, trip reliability, travel times, and reduce recurring congestion and operational deficiencies on State Highways. Similarly, improvements which achieve the same objectives are eligible on major / minor arterials or key collector roadways within one mile of a state highway; or farther than one mile as determined on a case by case basis. States of good repair, maintenance and/or beautification projects are not eligible.
The three projects in Carson that fall within this category and were also selected for funding include the following:
• Carson Street Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Project: $700,000 was programmed in FYs 21 and 22. As part of the Carson Street Master Plan project the City installed about 2 miles of empty conduit in the ground. This project will fund the installation of new fiber cables, the installation of 100’ conduit gap across Main St, CCTV cameras, hardware, software, and other elements that improve traffic flow on Carson Street from the 405 Freeway to the Figueroa St. No matching funds are anticipated or required at this time.
• Sepulveda Boulevard Widening from Alameda Street to ICTF: $6,019,999 was programmed in FYs 21, 22 and 23. The project involves widening Sepulveda Boulevard by 48-feet in both directions from the center line for approximately 1,500 linear feet. The widening will add one-lane in each direction along the bridge over the Dominguez Channel and along the roadway from Alameda Street to the bridge. A new sidewalk will be constructed to connect to existing sidewalks on both ends of the project which will provide an ADA compliant path of travel along both sides of Sepulveda Blvd. A raised median is another new feature that is included in this project. The proposed 14-foot wide raised center median will not be landscaped and will be primarily function to reduce the risk of vehicle collision and also serves as a device to reduce the speed of erratic motorists. On a separate scope, Southern California Edison will be relocating their wooden poles that are currently within the unimproved area of the roadway widening. However, the fence that is also within the unimproved right-of-way area, needs to be relocated and is under the purview of the City. The total project cost is estimated to be about $7,360,000 and the City will need to provide a local match of $1,340,000.
• Avalon Boulevard Traffic Signal Synchronization Program (TSSP) in the City of Carson: $1,530,000 was programmed in FYs 21, 22 and 23. For this application, the City prepared and submitted the application but later worked with Los Angeles County and the SBCCOG to change the project sponsor from the City to Los Angeles County to streamline project funding because this is multi-jurisdictional traffic signal synchronization and signal improvement project. The project will promote traffic circulation throughout the region and improve operations at 21 signalized intersections within the City of Carson on Avalon Blvd from Sepulveda Blvd to Gardena Blvd. This project is estimated to cost about $4.5 million and the City would have had to pay about $1.9 million in matching funds, however, with the approval of the Measure M funds the City’s obligation was reduced. The City is only required to provide approximately $400,000 in matching funds to bring a $4.5 million project to the City.
Next Steps
Metro is expected to send out funding agreements for projects that have funds programmed in FY 2020-21. All three projects have funding programed in FY 2020-21, so staff expects to receive the funding agreements soon. Once the funding agreements are received, they will be presented to City Council for consideration and approval. Once approved, staff will be able to commence with the typical procurement process.
About Measure M
The Measure M sales tax measure was approved by voters in 2016 for Los Angeles County's comprehensive plan to improve transportation and ease traffic congestion through the following core goals: Improve freeway traffic flow; reduce bottlenecks and ease traffic congestion.
The Metro Board approved the Measure M Guidelines in June 2017 and the Measure M Administrative Procedures for the Measure M MSP projects were issued in February 2018. The documents outline detailed procedures for development and approval of new projects and a list of potentially-eligible project examples.
In the South Bay, the MSP guidelines require a five-year project list for each of the South Bay Multi-Year Sub-Regional Programs to be approved by the SBCCOG before being approved by the Metro Board of Directors.
More information about Measure M can be found on the METRO website at https://theplan.metro.net/#measurem <https://theplan.metro.net/>
V. FISCAL IMPACT
No fiscal impact at this time, although the City will eventually need to provide matching funds for the Sepulveda widening and the TSSP.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. South Bay Subregion Measure M MSP - Project Funding List. (pg. 5)
2. Project Location Maps. (pgs. 6-8)
Prepared by: Reata Kulcsar, Sustainability Administrator - Utilities & Gilbert Marquez, P.E. City Engineer