Meeting_Body
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
JUNE 20, 2024
Subject
SUBJECT: LONG BEACH TO EAST LOS ANGELES (LB-ELA) TASK FORCE
Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATION
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
AUTHORIZE the Chief Executive Officer to execute Contract Ratification and Modification No. 34 to Contract No. PS4340-1939 with URS Corporation (an AECOM Entity) to fund the additional LB-ELA Task Force (formerly I-710 Task Force) outreach efforts and technical responses in the not-to-exceed amount of $477,612, increasing the total contract value from $68,782,355 to $69,259,967 and extending the period of performance six months to end on September 30, 2024.
Issue
ISSUE
The Long Beach-East Los Angeles Corridor Draft Mobility Investment Plan (LB-ELA CMIP) was publicly released and open for public comment between February 1, 2024, to March 1, 2024. The public review and input period was extended 30 days to provide additional comments and responses to be incorporated into the final plan. The Contract Ratification and Modification is needed to provide additional funding in the amount of $477,612 for this additional outreach and technical support for the LB-ELA CMIP. Due to the sensitivity to respond to public requests for an extension of the public review period, the Contract Modification was not executed prior to the approval of the 30-day extension and exceeds the contract modification authority.
The Vendor/Contract Management Department and the Countywide Planning and Development Department have pursued corrective action on this contract to ensure such incidents do not occur in the future.
Background
BACKGROUND
In May 2021, Metro and Caltrans commissioned the LB-ELA Task Force (Task Force) to suspend all work related to the I-710 South Corridor Project Environmental Impact Report/Environment Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) due to environmental implications. Since November 2021, Metro’s goal for the Task Force has been to work with impacted communities and stakeholders in an equity-focused manner to develop a multimodal, community-supportive LB-ELA CMIP.
The LB-ELA CMIP is concentrated on improving the regional and local mobility of people, goods, and air quality while fostering economic vitality, social equity, environmental sustainability, and access to opportunity for the most impacted residents along the I-710 Corridor. After a two-and-a-half-year-long process, the Draft LB-ELA CMIP was released for public comments on January 31, 2024, with a 30-day public comment period ending on March 1, 2024, and Metro Board approval anticipated at the March Board meeting.
In response to public and Board member requests, the project team extended the public comment period an additional 30 days and added one additional meeting each for the Task Force and its Community Leadership Committee (CLC). The Metro Board adopted the final LB-ELA CIMIP at its April 2024 meeting. A final CMIP was published on June 3, 2024.
Additionally, toward the culmination of the Task Force and CLC’s participation in the LB-ELA CMIP development, staff identified additional close-out tasks to support the documentation of the equity-focused planning process and develop resources for the implementation phase of the LB-ELA CMIP, as described in the Discussion section below.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
The extension of the public review period included additional Task Force and CLC meetings, as well as additional focused meetings with various stakeholders. These meetings were critical as they helped resolve issues from draft to final CMIP and helped bring strong support behind the plan. The number of comments received during the extension period was significant and required thorough responses, including follow-up meetings with certain groups and/or individuals. Due to the last-minute 30-day extension, the project team went through additional revisions of the draft plan, these revisions were due to stakeholder feedback Without this greater level of effort it would have been difficult to secure Task Force and CLC consensus to recommend the Final CMIP to the Metro Board by April 2024. During the 30 day extension, the consultant team worked tirelessly in providing excellent customer service and outreach to the Task Force and CLC members, using tools such as the dashboard which assisted in visually presenting the CMIP and through the other mechanism, such as one on one meetings, along with group meetings. After the 60-day comment period, the Task Force and CLC voted to move the Final LB-ELA CMIP forward for Metro Board consideration and adoption.
The costs incurred due to the extension of the public comment period, additional stakeholders' meetings, Task Force meetings, CLC meetings, and incorporation of the new comments into the final CMIP were approximately $120,000.
In addition, close-out tasks are needed to support the documentation of the equity-focused planning process and develop resources for the implementation phase of the LB-ELA CMIP.
A summary of the work plan for this effort is provided below.
Task 1: Project Management
The contractor will provide six (6) additional months of project management, contract administration, document control, and project control activities, through the anticipated project completion of September 2024. Additional project management support was needed to help shepherd the adoption of the Final CMIP. This includes ongoing project management activities including the assignment and coordination of contractor team resources to conduct final meetings and close-out of the project.
Task 20: Task Force Organization
The outreach team subcontractor, led by Arellano and Associates (AA, a Small Business Enterprise), was instrumental in securing consensus for the Final CMIP. The team will continue to support Metro and the project team in conducting regular team meetings and performing the necessary administrative and management functions needed to support the closeout of the project.
Task 29: Dashboard Tool
The LB-ELA Corridor has many transportation projects that are being evaluated under separate tasks of this contract. The objective of this task is to develop a web-based, public-facing application (Dashboard) to visually provide evaluative information about these multimodal transportation projects. This tool serves as a bridge to the implementation phase, which will allow us to provide public transparency and keep oversight of the many projects the plan will fund and support development through implementation. This work was identified as necessary to secure consensus to ensure public engagement in the process during the draft to final CMIP. The task will be completed within 6 months from notice-to-proceed and will involve four stages: visioning, design, development, and deployment.
Task 31: CLC White Paper (New Task)
Given the unique role of the CLC throughout the development of the LB-ELA CMIP and the level of effort from staff to develop relationships with its members, the CLC facilitation subcontractor will work with Metro to close out the CLC process by developing a CLC white paper. The white paper will recommend strategies for continued community engagement in the implementation of the LB-ELA CMIP’s working groups and public meetings. It will also broadly support Metro’s 2022 Public Participation Plan by creating a resource where staff can refer to the LB-ELA process lessons learned about building trust, engaging, and working with CLCs.
Task 32: Health and Transportation Equity Data Toolkit (New Task)
Throughout the development of the LB-ELA CMIP, members of the Task Force, CLC, and the community regularly uplifted the need to consider health and how the projects, programs, and strategies of the CMIP impacted the health of communities along the corridor. The consultant will close out the work of the Equity Working Group by developing a toolkit of data sources, online maps, and technical guidance for incorporating health and transportation equity into project planning and implementation. The deliverables from this task will support Metro staff in maintaining continuity with these topics and community concerns when implementing initial investments from the CMIP.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
Performance of the proposed contract modification will have no negative impact on the safety of Metro’s patrons or employees.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Funding for the necessary work to complete Contract Modification 34 is included in the $4,000,000 shown in Metro’s FY24 budget and $5,000,000 in the FY25 budget in Cost Center 4720 (Highway Program), Project 460316 (I-710 South Early Action Projects), Account 50316 (Services Professional/Technical), Task 14.01.
Since this is a multi-year project, the Project Manager, the Cost Center Manager and the Chief Planning Officer will continue to be responsible for budgeting any remaining costs in future fiscal years.
Impact to Budget
The source of funds for this project will be Measure R Highway Capital (20%) Funds from the I-710 South and/or Early Action Projects. This fund source is not eligible for Bus and Rail Operations or Capital Expenditures.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
Approving the execution of the contract modification will support the closeout of the current LB-ELA Investment Plan contract and position staff to begin the implementation of the Board-approved CMIP (File #2023-0594 <https://datamade-metro-pdf-merger-testing.s3.amazonaws.com/2023-0594.pdf>).
Through this contract modification, Metro will continue to center equity in future decision-making, budget allocation, and community engagement activities for the Project(s) along the I-710 South Corridor. Staff have worked closely with the Task Force and CLC, comprised of residents from communities along the corridor, to collaboratively develop an investment plan to implement priority multimodal projects and programs. The CLC engagement at every step of the process has been led by Metro’s Office of Equity and Race and is unprecedented for Metro highway planning projects, and a CLC White Paper will help to document residents’ experiences and identify best practices for future Metro efforts. Further, health and transportation equity have been consistent themes heard from the CLC, Task Force, and community members throughout and prior to the two-and-a-half-year-long process to develop the LB-ELA CMIP. The Health and Transportation Equity Data Toolkit task will support the continuity of staff understanding of and responsiveness to these community concerns as Metro, partner agencies, and other stakeholders implement the LB-ELA CMIP.
Without this action and subsequent timely planning and investment to address the current corridor conditions, the I-710 South Corridor users and corridor communities will continue to experience pollution, congestion, unsafe traffic conditions, spillage of freeway traffic onto local neighborhoods, and other negative impacts of the anticipated escalating traffic demand in the corridor.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Metro staff collaboration with local, regional, state, and federal agencies, as well as the local communities to develop an innovation and investment strategic plan to implement the prioritized projects for the I-710 South Corridor and a long-term vision to improve I-710 is consistent with the following goals of the Metro Vision 2028 Strategic Plan:
Goal 1: Provide high-quality mobility options that enable people to spend less time traveling.
Goal 3: Enhance communities and lives through mobility and access to opportunity.
Goal 4: Transform LA County through regional collaboration and national leadership.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The Board may elect not to approve the Contract Modification. This option is not recommended. Completing the Task Force process is a necessary step in the development and implementation of the improvements described in Measure R and Measure M for the corridor.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Upon Board approval, staff will execute Modification No. 34 to Contract No. PS4340-1039 with URS Corporation (an AECOM Entity) to fund the additional LB-ELA Task Force (formerly I-710 Task Force) outreach efforts and technical responses. Staff will continue to monitor the contract services.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Procurement Summary
Attachment B - Contract Modification/Change Order Log
Attachment C - DEOD Summary
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Lucy Delgadillo, Senior Manager, Complete Streets and Highways, (213) 922-7099
Michelle E. Smith, Executive Officer, Complete Streets And Highways, (213) 922-3057
Avital Barnea, Senior Executive Officer, Multimodal Integrated Planning, (213) 547-4317
Carolina Coppolo, Deputy Chief Vendor/Contract Management Officer (Interim), (213) 922-4471
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Ray Sosa, Chief Planning Officer, (213) 547-4274
