Meeting_Body
REVISED
CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE
MARCH 21, 2019
Subject
SUBJECT: METRO GOLD LINE INTERSTATE 210 BARRIER REPLACEMENT
Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
CONSIDER:
A. INCREASING Design Life-of-Project (LOP) Budget for Metro Gold Line Interstate 210 Barrier Replacement, (CP Number 405581) by $11,463,026, increasing the LOP budget from $11,078,366 to $22,541,392; and
B. AUTHORIZING the Chief Executive Officer to execute Contract Modification No. 1 to the On-Call Highway Program Project Delivery Support Services Contract Nos. AE30673000, AE30673001, AE30673002 with AECOM, CH2M Hill, and Parsons Transportation Group, respectively, in the amount not-to exceed $11,000,000 increasing the total contract value from $30,000,000 to $41,000,000.
Issue
ISSUE
Since the opening of the Metro Gold Line, there have been ten accidents in which mostly high profile vehicles, traveling on the 210 Freeway, have entered into Metro's operating Right-of-Way. The latest incident occurred on Thursday, November 22, 2018. During the incident, a tractor trailer breached the existing concrete barrier causing damage to the Gold Line system and resulting in a major disruption. Staff has been working on developing a design for barrier improvements for the Pasadena Gold Line to effectively mitigate the risks of future breaches into Metro’s Gold Line Right-of-Way. Once the barrier improvements design is completed and approved by Caltrans, Metro will procure a construction contract for installation of the improvements.
The Design LOP budget was approved at the May 2016 board for an amount of $11,078,366. The original design contract was awarded to CH2M Hill Inc. (now a part of Jacobs) for an initial value of $4,799,967. Two modifications to this contract were made that brought the total value of the contract to $5,233,277.
The environmental impact and disruption to Metro Gold Line operations during construction of this project are much larger than initially anticipated. To effectively address all the environmental issues and provide a complete design that accounts for Metro rail operation, an adjustment to the initial LOP funding needs to be made to cover the increased costs through final design.
Background
BACKGROUND
The original project was initially scoped and considered as a relatively simple and straightforward barrier replacement project. It was assumed that this project would be easily cleared environmentally because all the anticipated work was going to be within the prism of the roadway on State or public right-of-way. Also, no significant impacts or resource agency permits were expected. However, as the design development phase proceeded, information from the field began to greatly complicate the project.
For the majority of the project limits, the tight spatial constraint of the project site will require the closure of the HOV lane on the I-210 freeway and single tracking of the Gold Line during the removal and replacement of the existing median barrier. The non-standard features of the existing freeway had to be reviewed and current mitigation measures needed to be reevaluated to determine if they were still effective. For example, some portions of the I-210 freeway currently do not meet the standard stopping site distance requirement. This non-standard feature is currently being mitigated by tail light requirements (a requirement that following vehicles can observe the tail lights on a preceding vehicle to ensure adequate braking distance). By increasing the height of the median barrier, the project would no longer meet the current tail light requirement and a new mitigation measure for stopping site distance must be studied and implemented. Also, the design was obliged to comply with some of the new code requirements and where possible add new features such as lighting at each HOV egress and ingress locations.
Since the HOV lane of the I-210 freeway will be closed for a significant length of time during construction of this project, traffic diverting from I-210 mainline onto local streets is expected. To better understand the traffic and environmental impacts imposed by this project, a specialized microsimulation traffic analysis and a focused air quality study during construction were added to the project’s scope of work. The tight spatial constraints and the need to design the barriers for the highest crash worthiness required the development of more complicated non-standard barrier details which will require Caltrans’ approval.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
We have presented a Board Box dated November 16, 2018 detailing the project progress. In that progress report, we also outlined the next steps necessary to successfully complete the project. There are various factors that contributed to contract changes and increased costs and the need to increase the design LOP. The project was initially scoped for somewhat simple barrier replacement. The scope of design and environmental studies were well coordinated with Caltrans prior to establishing a LOP.
Neither Metro nor Caltrans foresaw the environmental issues and design difficulties that the project is currently facing. These difficulties include, large freeway traffic disruptions during construction that give rise to delays beyond acceptable limits, resulting in diversion of traffic onto the local streets which causes issues with air quality and noise, addressing existing non-standard freeway features, obtaining approval for use of stronger non-standard barriers, and impacting Metro’s operations during construction of the project.
Metro and Caltrans have agreed to divide the project into two pieces. This will allow the portion with lesser environmental issues to move forward at a faster pace towards final design while the environmental issues on the other portion are being addressed. Due to the urgency of the project, the design has been moving forward at risk, meaning that the environmental studies and the final design are being done concurrently. Therefore, now that the project is divided into two pieces, some of the work that has already been done needs to be revised, impacting the cost of the project.
Currently about $3.9 million is still remaining from the original LOP. This contract was awarded to CH2M as an on-call contract (Contract No. PS4730-3070) and has since expired. No additional change orders can be issued to CH2M through this contract. Staff recommends utilizing the On-Call Highway Program Project Delivery Support Services contract (Contract No. AE30673001) approved by the Board on 06/27/2017. CH2M is one of the consultants that competed and was selected to perform engineering services under that contract. In order to be responsive to this high priority and urgent project and provide continuity to the project, we elected to use this Metro contract with CH2M to continue the design.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
This Board’s decision to approve this Project is paramount to ensuring public safety along the Metro Gold Line I-210 corridor.
Completion of this project will be an important step in improving safety and reducing the likelihood of future breaches into Metro’s Gold Line Operational Right-of- Way. The improvements described in this project are necessary for public safety.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The funds for FY19 is included in cost center 8510 - Construction Procurement, under project number 405581 - I-210 Barrier Replacement. Since this is a multi-year project, the Project Manager, the cost center manager and Chief Program Management Officer will be accountable for budgeting the cost in future years.
Impact to Budget
The funding source for this action will come from Proposition C 25% (PC25%) as a result of work scope aligned with highway related improvements. This fund source is not eligible for operating or capital improvements on bus and rail. No other fund sources were considered.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
By supporting the recommendation to increase the LOP budget of the I-210 Barrier Replacement Project, the Board is supporting Metro’s strategic plan goal 1 which promotes trip reliability, reduces trip disruptions as well as delivery of world-class transit service by ensuring our transit assets are in a state of good repair. Each time the median barrier was breached, Metro’s Gold Line operations and ridership were affected. The I-210 Barrier Replacement Project will eliminate the likelihood of a freeway vehicle breaching the median barrier and affecting Gold Line operations in the future.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The following alternatives were considered:
1. Keeping the value of LOP at current level will not provide the necessary funds to complete the design of this project. The existing barrier, which does not prevent intrusion of high profile vehicles, will remain in place. This alternative is not recommended since, on an average basis, we experience two vehicle intrusions per year into Metro operating right of way.
2. Awarding the remaining portion of the work to a firm other than CH2M/Jacob or issuance of a new contract other than the Highway Program On-Call Services Contract. This will require procurement of a new contract. This alternative is not recommended because it will delay the project considerably either because of the time that it will take to procure a new contract or the time it would take for a new team to learn about the project before continuing with the current design.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Upon Board approval, staff will execute Contract Modification No. 1 to the On-Call Highway Program Project Delivery Support Services contracts with CH2M Hill, AECOM and Parsons Transportation Group and issue a Task Order to CH2M Hill to continue design of the project and obtain Caltrans approval for the replacement the existing barrier along the median of I-210. Staff will report monthly project progress to the Board.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Procurement Summary
Attachment B - Contract Modification/Change Order Log
Attachment C - DEOD Summary
Attachment D - Funding/Expenditure Plan
Prepared_by
Prepared by:
Androush Danielians, Executive Officer (213) 922-7598
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by:
Richard Clarke, Chief Program Management Officer (213) 922-7557
Debra Avila, Chief Vendor/Contract Management Officer (213) 418-3051
