To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Transportation and Public Works
Staff Name and Phone Number: Johannes J. Hoevertsz 707-565-2231
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
2022 and 2023 Pavement Preservation Program Funding and Tier 2 PG&E Settlement Funds List of Projects
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Approve the List of Projects and Authorize allocation of the annual Pavement Preservation Program (PPP) funding for the recommended maintenance and capital improvement projects countywide for fiscal years 2021-22 and 2022-23.
B) Approve the List of Projects and Authorize allocation of $20,000,000 in PG&E settlement funds for the recommended Tier 2 infrastructure investment and generational capital projects countywide.
end
Executive Summary:
On March 2, 2021, the Board approved a five-year Strategic Plan that included a pillar and related objectives for Resilient Infrastructure. Investments in on-going maintenance and capital improvements to the County’s infrastructure support these objectives by: reducing maintenance liabilities, maximizing use of taxpayer dollars, improving public safety, and improving access to services. As part of this strategic goal, the Board has assigned a high priority to investing in transportation infrastructure through the annual Pavement Preservation Program (PPP). This program funds ongoing maintenance to streets and roads including large scale paving and sealing projects, drainage improvements, vegetation removal, as well as upgrades to street signs and striping.
Beginning in 2012 and formalized with the acceptance of a Long Term Road Plan in October 2014, the Board has invested over $120 Million in discretionary dollars, resulting in the completion of almost 433 miles of pavement preservation and rehabilitation projects throughout Sonoma County. In addition, the Long Term Road Plan provides strategic guidance to improve the County's maintained road network, with a focus on heavily traveled roads that are vital to local economic development, agriculture, recreation, and tourism.
The Department of Transportation and Public Works (TPW) is requesting the Board’s approval of the proposed list of pavement preservation projects for the 2022 and 2023 construction seasons. In addition, TPW is requesting the Board to approve the list of projects for the $20,000,000 allocation from the PG&E Settlement Funds Tier 2 for “generational” investments to the County’s transportation infrastructure. These “generational” projects meet Tier 2 criteria established in the Infrastructure Resiliency Investment Plan by the Board in December 15, 2020. The listed projects require environmental review and approval of the Board.
Discussion:
Pavement Preservation Program (PPP):
Beginning in 2012 the Board of Supervisors began allocating money from the County’s General Fund for maintenance and repair of county roads. This allocation was in addition to established Maintenance of Effort contributions the County was obligated to make in order to receive annual apportionments of State gas taxes. Formalized in 2014 with the adoption of a Long Term Road Plan by the Board, the Board committed to continuing its annual General Fund investment. This investment consisted of $8 million General Fund for pavement preservation which was increased to $9 million in FY 2015-16 to address worst local roads, $375,000 in Aggregate Mitigation road impact fees, and $2.2 million in Refuse Franchise Fees. Additionally, in 2015 the Board identified additional one-time monies from a combination of discretionary sources totaling $10.6 million for the summer 2017 Pavement Program, and directed indexing the pavement preservation annual General Fund base contribution of $9 million by up to 2% beginning in FY 2016-17. The Plan and funding source are now collectively referred to as the Pavement Preservation Program (PPP). In addition to General Fund contributions, Transportation and Public Works (TPW) allocates a portion of State gas tax revenue to the Program each year. Finally, since FY 2017-18 at the direction of the Board, 20% of revenue from the County’s Transit Occupancy Tax (Measure L) is allocated to the PPP each year. An estimate of each source of funding is outlined below.
TPW will return to the Board in the Fall of 2021 with an update of the Long Term Roads Plan, including an analysis of progress in road condition improvement achieved since 2012.
Infrastructure Resiliency is one of five pillars currently established by the Board of Supervisors to guide our County’s future and in response to a priority community concern - improving the condition of our County roads.
The generous annual General Fund contributions from the Board towards the Pavement Preservation Program, made every year since 2012, far exceed those from any other County across the State of California (Exhibit G), demonstrating this Board’s strong commitment to TPW’s ability to successfully meet the goal of improving pavement conditions.
Summary of funding for 2-Year Pavement Preservation Program:
|
Projected General Fund Contribution to Roads |
$12,710,426 |
|
Projected State Gas Tax Funding (SB1) |
$ 6,784,000 |
|
Projected Measure L Transit Occupancy Tax |
$ 780,293 |
|
Less 5th Payment for Roseland Annexation Road Improvements |
($ 662,000) |
|
Total Projected FY 2021-22 PPP Funding |
$19,612,716 |
|
Projected General Fund Contribution to Roads$12,913,171 |
|
|
Projected New State Gas Tax Funding (SB1) |
$ 7,088,000 |
|
Projected Measure L Transit Occupancy Tax |
$ 1,000,000 |
|
Less 6th Payment for Roseland Annexation Road Improvements |
($ 662,000) |
|
Total Projected FY 2022-23 PPP Funding |
$20,339,171 |
|
TOTAL AVAILABLE FOR NEW PROJECTS IN 2-YEAR PROGRAM |
$39,951,890* |
* Total amount includes Design and Construction Management Costs of 15% ($6,024,745) and $34,145,888 in estimated construction costs. Also included is $1.0 million set aside annually to address worst local roads included in the $9 million General Fund base allocation for pavement preservation that is adjusted annually by 2% index.
The Roseland Annexation Road Improvement payments included in the financial summary above refers to an agreement with the City of Santa Rosa for the 2017 Roseland annexation. The agreement defined a 10 year payment plan covering immediate road maintenance costs for the County roads that are now the City’s responsibility, and will continue until 2026. This type of agreement is typically associated with an annexation, where one local agency assumes ownership of another agency’s infrastructure.
The projects recommended for the FY 2021-22 and 2022-23 PPP were developed using the Road Evaluation Framework in the Long-Term Roads Plan. The Road Evaluation Framework is attached as Exhibit A. The Road Evaluation Framework does not prescribe specific roads or set a target, rather it helps ensure an equitable distribution of repair work throughout the County, while addressing the most critical needs and investing in preservation to ensure the most efficient use of funds. The Roads Evaluation Framework consists of a series of key roadway attributes that TPW has used to identify candidate roads such as: average daily traffic, pavement condition, relevance to bike and bus modes of travel, and location relevant to access public safety facilities. Each of these factors has been taken into consideration by staff in the recommended program of projects. Given the large backlog of pavement repair needs and the fact that there is insufficient funding to address the entire system, the Department generally recommends a continued focus on those roads that serve the most residents. For that reason in the prior programs candidates were primarily selected from among the Federally Eligible and Significant Rural Road Network categories within the Framework. The roads in these categories generally have the highest usage.
One of the primary tools currently used in the Road Evaluation Framework, is Street Saver® pavement maintenance and management modeling software. This software uses traffic count data, pavement condition as well as bus and bike route data to develop a list of candidate roads. Engineering staff at TPW combine this data with real world observations in order to develop a geographically equitable list of final projects. A significant amount of engineering judgment is required to develop this list as well as determine the appropriate treatment for each project. Exhibit B shows how all of the recommended projects in the new 2-Year Pavement Preservation Program fit into the Road Evaluation Framework.
Exhibit C is a map that shows the proposed project locations and Exhibit D lists of the proposed projects. All treatment types are preliminary until verified through detailed material testing and design. Program estimates are based on the currently identified treatment strategy, and the average costs experienced in recent bids. The recommended new 2-Year Pavement Preservation Program will repair or replace pavement on 43.44 total miles of arterial, major and minor collector roads, and local roads throughout the County.
PG&E Tier 2 Settlement
The Sonoma Complex Fires of October 2017 (Tubbs, Nuns, Pocket) collectively burned 110,000 acres, destroyed 5,300 homes, and took the lives of 24 County residents. The County sustained extensive damage to roads, signs, retaining walls, guardrails, trees, and culverts. The Board adopted an Infrastructure Resiliency Investment Plan based on three tiers of projects to including:
1. Fire damaged roads
2. Fire suppression and safety improvements
3. Disaster preparedness and mitigation opportunity investments
The plan provided a starting point for discussion of allocation of the PG&E Settlement funds. Included in the discussion was a $20,000,000 investment in Tier 2 “generational” transportation projects that meet one or more of the following criteria:
• Useful life that exceeds 15 years.
• Stabilize, rehabilitate, or enhance existing infrastructure in areas with physical constraints. Physical constraints can be one-way in/one-way out, narrow, and one lane road segments within high fire and flood risk areas.
• Projects that reduce or mitigate risks from disasters.
• Promote preparedness for disasters county-wide.
• Contribute to leveraging additional funding towards a bigger resilient generational project.
• Promote safety and welfare of the public.
Attachment E and F are a map and list displaying the individual project locations. Project schedules for individual locations will be determined and are expected to occur over the next 5 years. The Department requests that the Board authorize allocation of $20,000,000 for the proposed projects, which is included in the departments FY 2021-22 Recommended Budget.
Prior Board Actions:
12/15/2020 Board approved Allocation of Pacific Gas and Electric Settlement Funds for Transportation, Utilities Undergrounding, Communications, Safety, and Preparedness Infrastructure Investments;
5/21/19 Board approved 2-year 2019/2020 Pavement Preservation Program;
9/26/2017 Board approved 2-year 2018/2019 Pavement Preservation Program;
6/14/16: Board approved 2017 Pavement Preservation Program of projects
3/17/15: Board approved the 2015 and 2016 Pavement Program of projects
10/28/14: Board adopted the Long-Term Road Plan report.
3/25/14: Board approved the 2014 Pavement Preservation Program funded with $9.8 Million allocation.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 20-21 Adopted |
FY21-22 Projected |
FY 22-23 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
$29,612,719 |
$30,339,171 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
|
$29,612,719 |
$30,339,171 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
$12,048,426 |
$12,251,171 |
|
State/Federal |
|
$6,784,000 |
$7,088,000 |
|
Measure L |
|
$780,293 |
$1,000,000 |
|
PG&E Settlement |
|
$10,000,000 |
$10,000,000 |
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
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Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
|
$29,612,719 |
$30,339,171 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
The appropriations for the first year of the 2-year program were included in the FY 2021-22 Road Capital Improvements recommended budget (11051-34010103) for construction beginning in 2022. Appropriations for the second year of the 2-year pavement preservation program will be requested as part of the FY 2022-23 budget process. Project costs associated with PG&E Tier 2 are estimated at $20M, and is included in the department’s FY 2021-22 recommended budget.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
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Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
The department has managed past Pavement Preservation Program work with existing staff and consultants. The benefit of the increased investment is that more work can be done to increase the quality and safety of the County’s transportation infrastructure. With projected increases in funding from SB-1 and the PG&E Settlement Program the department will be developing staffing plans to manage the increased work load this will have on the department.
Attachments:
Exhibit A: Updated Long Term Road Plan Evaluation Framework
Exhibit B: Evaluation Framework for the New 2-Year Pavement Preservation Program
Exhibit C: Map of New 2-Year Pavement Preservation Program
Exhibit D: List of New 2-Year Pavement Preservation Program Recommended Roads
Exhibit E: Map of Tier 2 PG&E Settlement Projects
Exhibit F: List of Tier 2 PG&E Settlement Project Recommendations
Exhibit G: General Fund Contributions by State-wide Counties
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None