Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAbout13) 9A Adoption of MND & Monitoring Pgm-Rosemead BlvdCity Council March 6, 2012 Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancement and Beautification Project Page 2 3. On August 17, 2010, the Community Redevelopment Agency Board approved a Consultant Services Agreement with Vanir Construction Management, Inc (Vanir) for the program and construction management of the Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancements and Beautification Project. 4. On October 7, 2010, the City Manager issued a Request for Qualifications I Request for Proposals (RFQ/RFP) for the selection of the design team for the Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancements and Beautification Project. 5. On August 17, 2010, the City Manager, through the Temple City Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), issued a contract to Vanir for the Program and Construction Management of the Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancements and Beautification Project. 6. On October 14, 2010, Vanir met with the City Manager and the City's consultant Avant-Garde, Inc., to discuss funding opportunities for the Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancements and Beautification Project and to coordinate information flow of technical data to support the grant applications. 7. On October 21, 2010, Vanir met with the. County of Los Angeles City Services Representative to discuss project coordination issues with the Los Angeles County, neighboring cities, and other municipal agencies. Vanir continues to communicate on project coordination issues and to facilitate meetings between Los Angeles County and Gruen Associates. 8. On November 15, 2010, Vanir met with the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works Traffic~ Engineer to discuss and coordinate the traffic study being done at the request of Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich. Vanir has provided traffic data and collision reports to the County on behalf of Temple City. 9. On November 19, 2010, the City Council Ad-Hoc Committee, City Manager and Vanir, interviewed the five selected firms that best met the objectives of the RFQ/RFP and the QBS criteria. At the conclusion of the interviews, direction was given to the City Manager, by the Ad-Hoc Committee, to negotiate a Consultant Services Agreement with Gruen. 10. On November 22, 2010, Vanir established contact with the regional manager of special projects at Union Pacific Railroad and gained information necessary for any redesign considerations for the railroad bridge at the southern boundary of the project. 11. On February 1, 2011, the City submitted a grant application for $4.8 million from the Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro). 12. On February 18, 2011, the City began work on a grant application through the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BT A) for funding for bike lanes. 13. On March 1, 2011, the City submitted a grant application for approximately $500,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). City Council March 6, 2012 Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancement and Beautification Project Page 3 14. On March 9, 2011, the City began work to obtain grant funding for the use of Rubberized Asphalt Concrete (RAC) in the streetscape design. 15. On March 24, 2011, the Ad Hoc Committee hosted a community meeting at Live Oak Community Center where members of the community were invited to share questions and comments about the project. In the months following the meeting, the City and Project Team fielded over 100 questions, several of which expressed concern about the location of the bike lane. 16. On April 29, 2011, based on the feedback from the Temple City Community, the Ad Hoc Committee directed the design team to explore other options for the bike lane that would address community concerns. 17. On May 27, 2011, after thorough examination by the project team to determine feasibility, the Ad Hoc Committee directed the design team to proceed with revision to the drawings to change the Class II bike lan~ (situated next to vehicular traffic) to Class I bike lanes, also known as Cycle Tracks. 18. In June 2011, in response to community comments and requests, the designer was directed to redesign the bicycle lanes from Class II Commuter Bike Lanes to the current Separated Protected Bike Lanes. 19. On June 7, 2011, City was notified of $110,250 grant award for use of RAC. 20. On August 1, 2011, City was notified of $443,000 grant award from the BT A. 21. On August 9, 2011, the project team presented a successful appeal to Metro and the City was notified that $2.25 million in grant funding is being recommended for the Rosemead Blvd Project. 22. In mid-August, 2011, with the main funding components mostly in place and, therefore the design elements mostly known, the City directed Gruen to complete the Design Development Phase of the project. Whereas the project would be funded with a combination of local and federal funds which would require that the projects be reviewed under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The City of Temple City will be the CEQA lead agency and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will be the federal lead agency. 23. On September 12, 2011, Gruen Associates submitted the complete Design Development Drawings for City review and comment. 24. On October 7, 2011, Atkins and Avant-Garde delivered the Environmental Package to Caltrans providing analysis of the project for purposes of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance. 25. On October 21, 2011, Caltrans approved the Preliminary Environmental Study (PES) and confirmed the Categorical Exemption for the project thereby completing the NEPA process. Whereas pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), .a Lead Agency must prepare an "Initial Study" to determine whether the project may have a significant adverse effect on the environment. A Mitigated Negative Declaration is used "when the Initial Study has identified potentially City Council March 6, 2012 Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancement and Beautification Project Page 4 significant effects on the environment, but (1) revisions in the project plans or proposals made by, or agreed to by, the applicant before the proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration and Initial Study are released for public review would avoid the effects or mitigate the effects to a point where clearly no significant effect on the environment would occur, and (2) there is no substantial evidence in light of the whole record before the public agency that the project, as revised, may have a significant effect on the environment" (Section 21 064.5). 26. On January 30, 2012, a Notice of Intent, Initial Study, and Mitigated Negative Declaration (Attachment A) for the proposed project were published for a 30-day review period concluding on February 28, 2012. 27. On February 28, 2012, the Planning Commission conducted a public hearing on the IS/MND (Attachment B), Vice Chairman Horton asked for a summary of the transportation report. The report identified some effects on circulation requiring signalization at Rosemead/Garibaldi Street and Rosemead/Gateway Plaza Drive, as well as the loss of parking which could be met with excess capacity on adjacent streets. Commissioner Seibert expressed some reservations about the bike lanes related to safety, access to residential properties, and ease of access for trash service and deliveries. The design team described the pains taken to ensure safe sight lines for driveways, as well as a uniform and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant sidewalks and driveways. The City has spoken with solid waste providers and they have provided options to the City including use of small carts on the bike lanes after hours, accessing trash from resident's back yards. Commissioner Condes said he would like to be involved with the design details, but realized it was not under consideration. Chairman O'Leary and Commissioner Leung had no comments on the proposal. 28. On February 28, 2012, the Planning Commission adopted Resolution No. 12-4802 recommending that the City Council adopt of the IS/MND for the Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancement and Beautification Project (Attachment C). 29. As of February 29, 2012, seven public comment letters were received and eight members of the public spoke at the Planning Commission meeting on the Mitigated Negative Declaration. Five of the letters addressed the intersection of Callita and Sultana, which is a separate project being undertaken by the County of Los Angeles. No response is required. Of the two remaining letters, one addressed whether a left turn lane from southbound Rosemead Boulevard can be provided to access the properties (including an existing 7-Eieven store) at the southeast corner of Rosemead Boulevard and Longden Street. An initial review by the City's design consultant and the City Traffic Engineer have confirmed that this movement is not feasible or safe as the access to the property does not allow for an adequate left turn pocket and therefore left turn queuing would occur in the traffic lane which would not be safe nor meet traffic standards. The City's staff and consultants will evaluate this further. The provision or prohibition of access to this site is not a CEQA issue and a change to this component of the project would not affect the analysis or conclusions in the MND. The final letter was from the Los Angeles County Fire Department clarifying that two fire stations (instead of one) · City Council March 6, 2012 Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancement and Beautification Project PageS ·have purview over fire service for the project alignment. This information is being included in the MND. Of the eight speakers at the meeting, most were concerned about the Callita and Sultana intersection, and one addressed access to commercial property at Rosemead/Longden, which were from the authors of the comment letters. Several additional comments were raised regarding project design features and their safety including trees blocking sight lines for residential driveways,· access for trash pickup across the bike lanes, and loss of parking. One commercial property owner was concerned about the length of time that his frontage would be under construction. The above-mentioned written and oral comments will be incorporated as an attachment in the final MND. The MND has been revised to include a summary of the comments and to provide responses to the environmental issues. In addition, Los Angeles County Fire Department has been contacted about their letter. ANALYSIS: The project is a safety enhancement and beautification project that would establish consistency along the entire length of Rosemead Boulevard (approximately 2 miles) from Callita Street (north) to the south side of UPRR railroad tracks (south) in Temple City, California. The project would result in: • removal and replacement of concrete sidewalks, construction of new sidewalk, curb, and gutter (incidental under-sidewalk drain extensions); • installation of new and reconfigured raised, irrigated, and landscaped roadway medians; • re-slope and reconfigure (as well as minor R&R-removing/relocating and replacing) driveways and curbs to meet ADA requirements; • install new, and reconfigure existing, traffic signals; • install bicycle facilities; • removal and reconstruction of AC pavement related to medians; • street resurfacing; • installation of new trees and landscaping as well as removal and replacement of existing trees and landscaping; • construction and installation of loop detectors, bus pads, new street lighting, street furnishings, decorative planters, retaining walls, entry monuments, signage, and striping; • construction of transit-stop improvements and seating nodes; • signalization of two intersections; • construction of other pedestrian and bicycle amenities; • improvements at the cross street of Las Tunas Drive for up to 300 feet; • improvements at the frontage road north of the UPRR tracks for up to 1 ,000 feet; and • relocation of public utilities, as necessary. City Council March 6, 2012 Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancement and Beautification Project Page 6 Implementation of the Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancement and Beautification Project would improve the safety and appearance of Rosemead Boulevard between the north and south city limits, transforming Temple City's segment of Rosemead Boulevard from a regional highway into a pedestrian friendly corridor. The proposed project would enhance vehicular circulation on Rosemead Boulevard through changes to some of the turning movement patterns, approach lane changes, and signal control changes at several intersections along the study corridor. The existing lane configuration of Rosemead Boulevard which includes two lanes in each direction would not be altered. According to the Traffic Study prepared by KOA Corporation in June 2011 for the proposed project, the project would not, in itself, create new vehicle trips, and operation of the project would not generate any new traffic to the project site or the City. However, the proposed project would reduce parking supply on Rosemead Boulevard, with an approximate total on-street parking loss of 211 spaces out of an approximate total of 382 existing on-street spaces within the study area. However, the Traffic Study determined that the parking supply reduction would not create any adverse parking supply impacts within the analyzed study area, as there is capacity on neighboring streets. The proposed project would also enhance pedestrian, bicycle, and public transit circulation of Rosemead Boulevard through the provision of new sidewalks, transit stop improvements, bicycle facilities, and other pedestrian and bicycle amenities. Additionally, the provision of new trees and other landscaping along sidewalks and within new medians, new street lighting, street furnishings, decorative planters, retaining walls, entry monuments, and signage, all of which would create visual consistency along the length of Rosemead Boulevard, would enhance the appearance of Rosemead Boulevard by providing consistent visual elements along the length of the boulevard. The Rosemead Boulevard Enhancement and Beautification Project total project budget is $18,291 ,288 (see Attachment G). The project currently has $4.3 million of federal funds allocated to the project. The federal funds will require that they are managed in accordance with the Caltrans Program Local Procedures Manual. Prior to beginning work for which federal reimbursement will be requested, the project must be formally authorized by Caltrans. Staff is currently working with Caltrans to obtain the Right-of- way authorization for the project. This authorization is essential in order to move the project into construction. Now that 1 00% plans have been completed by Gruen for the project, staff will be working on submitting the next authorization request, the request for Authorization to Proceed with Construction. This authorization must be granted and secured (E-76) prior to the solicitation ofbids for the project. We are currently working on an aggressive schedule in an effort to begin construction in the summer. In order to meet our current timelines, we are requesting that the Council authorize the solicitation of bids upon receipt of Caltrans approval (E-76). Updates on bid dates, and projected construction schedule will be communicated via the City Managers Report. The Community Redevelopment Agency Funds budgeted for this capital improvement project area from existing redevelopment tax allocation bond proceeds that must be City Council March 6, 2012 Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancement and Beautification Project Page 7 used to benefit the Rosemead Boulevard Project Area. CONCLUSION: Implementation of the Rosemead Boulevard Safety Enhancement and Beautification Project would improve the safety and appearance of Rosemead Boulevard between the north and south city limits, transforming Temple City's segment of Rosemead Boulevard from a regional highway into a pedestrian friendly corridor. The City Council is requested to authorize the City Manager to release the plans and specifications for bid. This authorization, pending Caltrans E-76 authorization, will expedite the schedule for the project as it will be able to go out to bid as soon as Caltrans E-76 authorization is received. The proposed project would enhance the safety and appearance of Rosemead Boulevard, no significant environmental impacts would occur, and all project-related funding are in place, it is recommended that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 12-4802 adopting the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Program for the proposed project. FISCAL IMPACT: 1) The City's allocated budget for the Rosemead Boulevard Enhancement and Beatification Project is approximately $18,291 ,288. This budget is comprised of 14 funding sources. (A detailed budget breakdown is attached to this report - Attachment G); and 2) Adoption of this Resolution has no fiscal impact on the Fiscal Year (2012-13) City Budget because the City will be reimbursed by Federal funding sources. ATT ACHMENT(S): A. Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Program B. Planning Commission Staff Report and Attachments thereto C. Planning Commission Resolution No. 12-2346 PC D. Responses to Public Comments Received Relating to the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration E. Rosemead Boulevard Plan Drawings (on disc) F. Rosemead Boulevard Project Specifications DRAFT (on disc) G. Project Budget H. Draft Resolution No. 12-4802