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AGENDA BILL Agenda Item No. 5(0) Date: August 21, 2012 To: El Cerrito City Council From: Jerry Bradshaw, Public Works Director I City Engineer Subject: Amend Capital Improvement Program to Fund Neighborhood Traffic Programs ACTION REQUESTED Adopt a resolution amending the 2012-13 Capital Improvement Program as follows: 1) Combine the "Traffic Safety Improvement Program" and the "Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP)" projects into a new project entitled for "Traffic Safety and Management Program;" and 2) Transfer $100,000 of Measure A Street Improvement Funding from the Street Improvement Project to the Traffic Safety and Management Program. BACKGROUND The Street Improvement Capital Fund (Fund 211) was created in 2008 after El Cerrito voters approved Measure A, as described in the El Cerrito Municipal Code, Chapter 4.60, "Pothole Repair and Local Street Improvement and Maintenance Transaction and Use Tax". The Measure was a half-cent sales tax to be used primarily to improve the condition of the City's street pavement. To that end, the City engaged in an aggressive three-year street improvement program that succeeded in improving the City's average pavement condition index (PCI) from a low of 49 to 85 (out of 1 00) - second among cities in the Bay Area. The backlog of pavement work was reduced from $21 million to approximately $500,000, which equates to a single year's work. Measure A included other street-related work items besides pavement. Code Section 4.60.150, Use ofT ax Proceeds and Expenditure Plan, includes" crosswalk and pedestrian improvements on or adjacent to City streets; other related services such as lane line, crosswalk and bicycle lane striping and other necessary pavement markings; and other such improvements as are deemed necessary by the City Council for the benefit of the residents of the City." This section also establishes the Measure's Expenditure Plan, which is updated annually in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget under the Street Improvement Capital Fund section. That section includes specific projects and appropriations as shown in Table 11-3 and supporting Project Information Sheets in the Budget Book. Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan - Traffic concerns have increasingly become a concern in El Cerrito. In September 2010 the City Council adopted the ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No. 5(0) Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan (NTMP), which was intended to establish an objective method by which neighborhood traffic concerns are addressed and, if necessary, prioritized. The NTMP did not, however, establish any funding to evaluate and implement NTMP projects. The resources for this were to be considered in the annual budgeting process. Since the NTMP was adopted, no new funding has been appropriated for neighborhood traffic issues. Speed Surveys- On June 19, 2012 the City Council adopted speed limits on several streets in town. That action item included three street segments on which the speed limit was not supported by an Engineering and Traffic Survey (speed survey). The result was that the speed limit on those segments cannot be enforced using electronic means (e.g. radar or lidar). Staff stated during that meeting that it would explore traffic calming measures that might affect the prevailing speeds such that a future speed survey would support the adopted speed limits. These measures would focus primarily in the residential areas along Arlington Blvd (Thors Bay to Cutting), Barrett, and Potrero (west of San Pablo A venue). Arlington Traffic Issues - Following a tragic accident that claimed the life ot an El Cerrito resident on June 6th on Arlington Blvd at Brewster Drive (near Arlington Park), staff engaged in a renewed dialog with Arlington residents about traffic issues in their neighborhood. Staff has developed both a near-term plan and a long-term plan for improvements in the vicinity that focus on pedestrian safety, vehicle speeds and sight lines. ANALYSIS While the community's focus on traffic issues and their expectations have risen in the past few years, the resources of the City have diminished. These resources consist of staff members of the Public Works and Police Departments and funding for traffic consultants, contractors, and supplies. In the Engineering Division, one of the two staff engineers has retired, and the position isn't slated to be refilled in the foreseeable future. Currently, the Engineering Division has five NTMP applications at some stage in the process. A few of the simple traffic solutions can be implemented using existing Gas Tax appropriations, but some of the projects may end up requiring more complicated, and more expensive, solutions. In addition, the desire to implement traffic systems to improve the Arlington/Brewster area and to address the three speed zones that are not supported by a speed survey is widening the gap between community expectations and available resources. Staff is recommending amending the current CIP to shift approximately 14% of the annual appropriation from the paving project to a new project that would address various traffic problems. This would also constitute an amendment of the Measure A Expenditure Plan. While neighborhood traffic problems were not the first priority for Measure A funds as it was presented to the community in 2007 and 2008, the City has made such significant progress in the area of pavement improvements (the first priority for Measure A funds), that it would not be inappropriate to authorize a modest level of funding for some of the secondary aspects of the fund. The rising expectations for Page2 ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No. 5(0) improved traffic conditions is evidenced by the response to the NTMP roll-out, individual requests to Engineering Division, and comments received in other public venues such as the most recent National Night Out event. By approving this action, the City Council would be reinforcing its commitment to neighborhood traffic solutions that was stated in the adoption of the NTMP in 2010. At the same time, the funding available for pavement work will remain strong. The 2012-13 CIP includes two projects in the Street Improvement Capital Fund (211): The Street Improvement Program (C3027) and the Moeser Ashbury project (C3061). The former is a catchall project used for capital maintenance of the streets. It is focused on pavement treatments and includes traffic control systems only as they pertain to pavement work. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to use this project directly for neighborhood traffic solutions in the absence of paving work. The latter project is specific to certain bicy~le and pedestrian improvements along Moeser Lane and Ashbury A venue. Further, the CIP also identifies two traffic related programs; both of Which remain unfunded: • "Traffic Safety Improvement" - this project is targeted toward high-accident locations on arterial and collectors identified in a traffic safety audit several years ago. • "Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan"- this project was created to fund the NTMP program. These two projects are relatively narrow in scope, and neither applies to staff-generated traffic projects that may come to light outside of the NTMP requests or the existing traffic audit. Examples include the current desire for traffic calming near Arlington Park and in the three speed zones identified above. Therefore, staff is recommending combining these two projects into a single project called "Traffic Safety and Management Program." This would afford the City more flexibility in applying any annual funding to traffic projects including possible matching funds for future grant opportunities. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS The Street Improvement Program (C3027) is budgeted for an expenditure of $725,000 for fiscal year 2012-13. Staff is recommending re-allocating $100,000 of that to a new project, Traffic Safety and Management Program. If approved, the funding will be allocated to the three pending priorities: • Near-Term Improvements near Arlington Park (approximately $25,000) • NTMP requests (approximately $40,000) • Speed Zone traffic calming (approximately $35,000) Page 3 ---PAGE BREAK--- Reviewed by: Scott Hanin, City Manager Attachment: 1. Accompanying Resolution Agenda Item No. 5(0) ' Page4 ---PAGE BREAK--- RESOLUTION 2012-XX Agenda Item No. S(D) Attachment 1 RESOLUTION OF THEEL CERRITO CITY COUNCIL AMENDING THE 2012-13 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM TO INCLUDE A TRAFFIC SAFETY PROJECT AND TRANSFER FUNDS FROM THE MEASURE A PAVING PROJECT WHEREAS, the Street Improvement Capital Fund (Fund 211) was created in 2008 after El Cerrito voters approved Measure A, as described in the El Cerrito Municipal Code, Chapter 4.60; and WHEREAS, Measure A was primarily focused on pavement improvements but also included other types of work including crosswalk and pedestrian improvements; lane line and bicycle lane striping and other necessary pavement markings; and other such improvements as are deemed necessary by the City Council for the benefit of the residents of the City; and WHEREAS, the Measure A Expenditure Plan is updated annually t~ough the Capital Improvement Program; and , , ~ . WHEREAS, the City's aggressive three-year street improvement program successfully reduced the value of the paving backlog from $21 million to $500,000; and WHEREAS, traffic issues have increasingly become a concern in the City as evidenced by the 2010 adoption of the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP) and by the five NTMP requests currently being processed by staff; and WHEREAS, speed limits adopted by the City Council on June 19, 2012 included three street segments where the engineering and traffic survey did not support the speed limit thereby eliminating the City's ability to utilize electronic enforcement (radar) on those segments; and staff promised to explore traffic calming measures to bring prevailing speeds more in line with posted speed limits; and WHEREAS, the City has developed near- and long-term proposals for traffic improvements on Arlington Blvd near Arlington Park following neighborhood reaction to a tragically fatal accident in the vicinity; and WHEREAS, no funding is currently identified in the Capital Improvement Program for the NTMP, the speed zone traffic calming, or any improvements near Arlington Park; and WHEREAS, two existing CIP projects, Traffic Safety Program and Neighborhood Traffic Management Program are relatively narrow in focus and are currently unfunded; and staff is recommending that they be combined into a new project entitled Traffic Safety and Management Program. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the El Cerrito City Council hereby amends the 2012-13 Capital Improvement Program to: 1) Combine the "Traffic Safety Improvement Program" and the "Neighborhood Traffic Management Program" projects into a new project entitled "Traffic Safety and Management Program;" and 2) Transfer $100,000 of Measure A Street Improvement Funding from the Street Improvement Project to the Traffic Safety and Management Program. ---PAGE BREAK--- Agenda Item No. S(D) Attachment 1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its passage and adoption. I CERTIFY that at a regular meeting on August 21, 2012 the City Council of the City of El Cerrito passed this Resolution by the following vote: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS: IN WITNESS of this action, I sign this document and affix the corporate seal of the City of El Cerrito on August_, 2012. Cheryl Morse, City Clerk APPROVED: William C. Jones III, Mayor