Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Steve Monowitz, Community Development Director
Subject: Amendment to the agreement with BKF Engineers to complete Phase 2 of the initial segment of the Midcoast Multimodal Trail, to include National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Environmental Document, Topographic Survey, and 100% Construction Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E).
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing an amendment to the agreement with BKF Engineers to complete Phase 2 of the Midcoast Multimodal Trail (Segment 1) project, to include preparation of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental documents, Topographic Survey, and 100% Construction Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E), extending the term through December 31, 2018, and increasing the amount of the agreement by $62,400 to an amount not to exceed $512,400.
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BACKGROUND:
Between 2009 and 2012, the County oversaw development of the two-phase Highway 1 Safety and Mobility Improvement Study. The study evaluated opportunities and constraints for active transportation mobility and accessibility throughout the Midcoast. The study produced conceptual alternatives and recommendations to improve active transportation facilities and coastal access along the Highway 1 corridor, including a proposed Midcoast Multimodal Trail for safe pedestrian and bicycle travel. The Midcoast Multimodal Trail is alternatively referred to in existing plans and studies as the Parallel Trail.
The amended agreement represents the second phase of the design work for the initial segment of the Midcoast Multimodal Trail. This initial segment of the trail will extend on a north-south axis, from Mirada Road in Miramar, at the City of Half Moon Bay-County line, to Coronado Street in El Granada. It is expected that trail users traveling south on this segment will be able to safely connect to the City of Half Moon Bay by using the Naomi Patridge Trail, a crucial component of the City’s pedestrian and bicycle commuter trail network. Trail users traveling northbound will be able to access El Granada directly. The proposed trail will enhance active transportation safety and accessibility for Midcoast residents.
Eventually, four segments will be constructed to complete the Midcoast Multimodal Trail, from Miramar to Montara. Once all segments of the Midcoast Multimodal Trail are completed, users will be able to accomplish their daily tasks throughout the Midcoast and in Half Moon Bay, including visiting businesses, commuting to and from school, and recreating, by bicycle or foot without relying on vehicular travel or crossing Highway 1 unnecessarily.
In January 2014, the Board of Supervisors approved the submittal of a grant application and matching County funds to pursue environmental analysis, design, and construction plans for the initial segment, in preparation for eventual construction. In June 2015, the Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with BKF Engineers to prepare Phase 1 of the design for the initial segment, which included Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Review (PE/ENV), and 30% (conceptual) Construction PS&E.
On February 14, 2017, the Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with BKF Engineers for the second phase of the design for the initial segment, including preparation of 100% construction ready documents, and NEPA environmental review documents, in order to better position this project for potential federal grant funds for the construction phase. The total agreement amount was $450,000 for the term February 14, 2017 to April 30, 2018.
DISCUSSION:
Several unforeseen complications have arisen which have delayed completion of the final plans as well as requiring additional (unbudgeted) work on the part of BKF engineers and their sub-consultants.
This project requires an encroachment permit from CalTrans because it will be constructed entirely within the Cabrillo Highway right-of-way. In December 2016, CalTrans accepted the County’s application for an encroachment permit to be reviewed through their streamlined review process, which is intended for smaller projects such as this. At the time the Board approved the agreement for the Phase 2 work in February 2017, it was both County Staff and BKF’s understanding that a formal Type Selection process (for the proposed pedestrian bridge and retaining wall) would not be required by CalTrans.
However, on May 16, 2017, after BKF had already started work on the 60% plans, CalTrans Office of Special Funded Projects (OSFP) requested that a formal CalTrans Type Selection process be performed for the pedestrian bridge and retaining wall. The “Structure Type Selection” process is an internal CalTrans’ design approval process intended to identify potential fatal flaws in a proposed project.
This CalTrans’ process caused the County to pause the design process. In order to fulfill this unanticipated requirement, BKF had to prepare a number of additional documents for both structures that had not been included in the original scope of work, including providing a formal draft Type Selection Report; attending a formal Type Selection Meeting at the CalTrans Headquarters in Sacramento to discuss the findings of the draft report; preparing Type Selection meeting minutes for the Type Selection Meeting; and providing formal responses in the final Type Selection Report to questions provided by the CalTrans’ technical specialists.
During the formal CalTrans Type Selection process, the steel bridge technical specialist from CalTrans provided comments requiring that the County’s proposed steel pedestrian bridge be designed to the updated CalTrans Seismic Design Specifications for Steel Bridges dated May 2016. Based on conversations with several prefabricated bridge manufacturers, this project would have been the first incidence that the manufacturers would have used these updated design provisions. The new provisions would have required the use of new seismic design methodologies that the prefabricated manufacturers are not familiar with.
These methodologies would have required significant changes to the design methods and construction details used by the prefabricated bridge manufacturers, eliminating any cost advantages and essentially prohibiting the use of a premanufactured bridge.
Recognizing this, BKF’s sub-consultant spent a considerable amount of time coordinating directly with CalTrans OSFP staff, including the CalTrans OSFP Office Chief, and various prefabricated bridge manufacturers to negotiate a revised seismic design methodology that would meet CalTrans’ design philosophy, while continuing to allow the use of a cost effective, prefabricated pedestrian bridge. Because this was the first time this approach has been proposed and because it would likely set a precedent for future projects, this negotiation required significant coordination effort, including several teleconferences, that was well beyond the originally anticipated scope of work for the sub-consultant.
To cover the cost of these unanticipated tasks, BKF and their sub-consultants shifted money from other budgeted tasks in order to keep the project moving. This has resulted in an anticipated shortfall of $62,400 as we approach the final budgeted tasks.
To address this shortfall, Staff is proposing to shift non-departmental funds that were allocated to the Parks Department in Fiscal Year 2015/2016 for Phase 3 (construction) of this project. Staff is currently pursuing potential State and Federal grant dollars for Phase 3, however, the chances of securing these grants are reliant upon having “shovel ready” (i.e., complete) plans.
The original term of the agreement with BKF Engineering was from February 14, 2017 to April 30, 2018. Due to the delays caused by the above cited additional work, staff proposes to extend the term of the agreement to December 31, 2018.
The resolution contains the County’s standard provision allowing an amendment by the department head of the County’s fiscal obligations by a maximum of $25,000 (in aggregate).
County Counsel and Risk Management have reviewed and approved the amendment to the agreement as to form.
The proposed amendment contributes to the 2025 Shared Vision outcomes of a Livable and Environmentally Conscious Community because the Project will result in transportation and land use design that will promote connectivity and reduce carbon emissions through active transportation utility, in a manner that benefits residents, visitors, and the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total cost for the term of this agreement, as amended, is $512,400. The proposed amendment increases the amount payable by $62,400. This Project (Midcoast Multimodal Trail, Segment 1) is sponsored, in part, by a $500,000 grant from the San Mateo County Transportation Authority Measure A Pedestrian and Bicycle Program with a 10% match funding contribution from the County Parks Department, in the amount of $50,000. Project management resides with the County Planning and Building Department.
ATTACHMENTS
- Resolution
- Exhibit A-1 (Amended Scope of Work), mentioned in the agreement.