Meeting_Body
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
SEPTEMBER 27, 2018
Subject
SUBJECT: CRENSHAW NORTHERN EXTENSION PROJECT
Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
AUTHORIZE:
A. the preparation of an Advanced Alternatives Screening Study with further engineering design, initiation of the procurement process for a Project Environmental Impact Report (EIR) with additional studies to facilitate subsequent National Environmental Quality Act (NEPA) review, conducting public/stakeholder engagement and supporting the City of West Hollywood in preparing a Funding and Delivery Strategic Plan, with all work efforts subject to subsequent funding appropriations by the Board of Directors; and
B. the Chief Executive Officer to increase Contract Modification Authority (CMA) specific to Task Order No. PS4686900 with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. in the amount of $400,000, increasing the CMA amount from $100,000 to $500,000, for the Advanced Alternatives Screening Study.
Issue
ISSUE
The Crenshaw Northern Extension is a Measure M project with a groundbreaking date of Fiscal Year (FY) 2041, project completion date of FY2047 and a funding allocation of $2.24 billion (2015$). A Feasibility/Alternatives Analysis Study, which yielded five potential alignment alternatives (Attachment A and B), was accepted by the Board as a Receive and File item on July 26, 2018 (Legistar # 2018-0236). Targeted stakeholder and elected officials outreach regarding the Study outcomes have occurred, which provided valuable feedback. However, broader public/stakeholder outreach is needed to obtain input on these five alignments, along with additional technical study, to winnow the number of alternatives to be carried forward into future environmental review. Doing so allows the environmental review to be conducted more efficiently, over a shorter period. A key outcome of the Study was the finding that all the alternatives studied exceed the funding allocation, some by approximately double.
The City of West Hollywood formally committed by City Council action to develop and propose to Metro an early project delivery strategy that would be consistent with the conditions to consider accelerating project delivery. Staff recommends providing support to the City in its efforts to prepare a viable, accelerated funding and delivery strategy. This is consistent with Metro’s prior commitment to advance planning and environmental review for the Crenshaw Northern Extension to bring it to a state of readiness that could facilitate acceleration.
Background
BACKGROUND
A northern extension was first identified as a part of planning studies for the Crenshaw/LAX Line project in 2009. Studies at that time considered an extension of the Crenshaw/LAX Line north of the Metro Expo Line, to the Metro Purple Line on Wilshire Boulevard, with the potential to ultimately extend farther north to the Metro Red Line in Hollywood via West Hollywood. Funding for the extension was not identified at the time and therefore the northern terminus of the Crenshaw/LAX project was set at the Exposition/Crenshaw Station; further studies of the northern extension were deferred.
In February 2016, the Crenshaw Northern Extension project was included in the Chief Executive Officer’s “Operation Shovel Ready Initiative” list of projects for advancement through early stages of project planning. The Crenshaw Northern Extension Feasibility Study was initiated in May 2016. Following the passage of the Measure M in November 2016, it was further expanded to include an Alternatives Analysis.
The study defines and analyzes four potential alignment alternatives that could extend the Crenshaw/LAX Line northward from the Metro Expo Line to the Metro Purple Line on Wilshire Boulevard and onto the Metro Red Line in Hollywood, as well as one alignment alternative that would extend from the Expo Line to the Red/Purple Line Wilshire/Vermont Station, with a connection to Hollywood via transfer to the existing Metro Red Line, but would not serve West Hollywood.
In July 2018, the Crenshaw Northern Extension Feasibility/Alternatives Analysis Study was completed and presented to the Metro Board as a Receive and File item. Metro staff was asked to meet with the cities of West Hollywood and Los Angeles to review next steps in the planning process and report back as soon as the September 2018 board meeting.
A meeting was held on September 12, 2018 to facilitate the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood understanding their respective goals, opportunities and issues surrounding the northern extension of the Crenshaw/LAX Line. Discussion occurred about how scopes of work would be approached and structured. A draft schedule was presented at that meeting (subsequently revised as Attachment C) defining key steps going forward for further technical work, public outreach and environmental review, along with parallel efforts to explore how to achieve accelerating project delivery.
The City of West Hollywood’s fundamental requests of Metro included:
• Find all reasonable and appropriate approaches to streamline the process to expedite bringing the project to a state of readiness that would enable it to be delivered much earlier than scheduled, should the opportunity exist to do so. Move aggressively on the schedule to complete the work effort.
• Prepare a Project EIR, rather than a Program or Staged EIR, to reduce the potential for needing additional environmental clearance in the future and bolster efforts to accelerate delivery. Procure the environmental work as a joint NEPA-CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) document, with an option for invoking the NEPA scope of services.
• Prepare additional studies to support subsequent NEPA review and clearance in the future, to streamline that transition, when appropriate and authorized by the Federal Transit Administration.
• Simplify the public engagement process by eliminating low-performing alternatives early, packaging similar alternatives and conducting latter outreach efforts with the benefit of additional technical information.
• Deliver the project as a single, complete phase, as early as possible.
The City of Los Angeles’ initial input regarding the proposed, continued work on the Crenshaw Northern Extension project included:
• Public engagement needs to be adequate and address all alternatives.
• West Hollywood should consult with the City of Los Angeles on its Funding and Delivery Strategy.
• Study land use and demographics, which would inform an understanding of the process to winnow the alternatives.
Both cities agree that Metro should set a threshold for deciding when to enter the procurement process for preliminary engineering (30 percent design), while being understanding that Metro should only undertake this work when efforts to accelerate project delivery appear promising. The Advanced Alternatives Screening Study will result in more detailed engineering design.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
There has been a long-standing interest among West Hollywood local elected officials and stakeholders to accelerate the delivery of the Crenshaw Northern Extension project. Within the provisions allowed under Measure M, Metro staff has committed to exploring a viable path forward to accelerate the project, consistent with adopted Board policy Early Project Delivery Strategy, led by the City of West Hollywood. A significant finding emerging out of the Feasibility/Alternatives Analysis Study is the fact that the cost of all five alternatives exceed Measure M funding allocations, some by approximately double. This funding gap is even greater, should even longer segments of the routes require below-ground, subway construction than currently identified. Any potential acceleration strategy at this juncture would have to address that factor, either through mitigating cost, securing new revenue, or a hybrid of both.
To better support the City of West Hollywood in identifying project delivery options and a funding strategy in collaboration with Metro, there is a need to conduct broad public outreach and further technical study to narrow the number of alternatives. This work effort would focus more detailed design, transit-oriented communities study, environmental review and cost estimation to support public engagement and winnowing of the alternatives.
Two separate rounds of community meetings are proposed in early and mid-2019 in locations throughout the Study Area to raise awareness about the Crenshaw Northern Extension Study and gather input on the alternatives. While there is clearly interest in this project, concerns are being raised about entire alignments and design of alignment sections from the limited stakeholders currently aware of the study outcome. For outreach to glean meaningful, broad input to determine which alignments are appropriate to carry forward for further study, awareness of the project and its potential alignments and features needs to be raised.
Once the outreach is complete, the technical evaluation of each alternative would be expanded to consider the issues raised through the public outreach process and further refine and modify these alternatives as necessary, including cost estimation. Staff is therefore proposing to modify the existing Task Order with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. to conduct an Advanced Alternatives Screening Study. Staff will return to the Board of Directors in fall 2019 with the results and findings of the Advanced Alternatives Screening Study and a recommendation for a reduced number of alternatives to carry forward for environmental review. A decision about whether to advance into environmental review will be dependent upon the City of West Hollywood’s Funding and Delivery Strategy, which will be the basis for an evaluation pursuant to Metro’s policy for an Early Project Delivery Strategy.
Funding and Delivery Strategic Plan
As a parallel process and in conjunction with the Advanced Alternatives Screening Study, staff will consult, as requested, in efforts led by the City of West Hollywood, in coordination with the City of Los Angeles, to prepare a Project Funding and Delivery Strategic Plan. The City of West Hollywood’s study will evaluate strategies to attract private, state and federal investment and assess the revenue potential, logistics and strategic options for additional local funding sources that could help achieve early project delivery, including value capture, such as an Enhanced Infrastructure Finance District (EIFD); bonding against the City of West Hollywood’s Measure M local return funds; and/or a local sales tax increase. Metro will issue a Challenge Statement to the private sector to solicit feedback and ideas on efforts to accelerate project delivery.
Environmental Clearance
Immediately after this requested Board action, Metro will initiate the procurement process for consultant services to prepare a Project EIR, with the ability to support transitioning to a joint NEPA-CEQA document. During environmental review, Metro will initiate procurement of preliminary engineering (30 percent design). Staff will return to the Board in fall 2019 with a recommendation on alternatives to carry forward into environmental review, following the conclusion of the Advanced Alternatives Screening Study and the public outreach associated with it. Importantly, initiating environmental review would be coupled with a finding that the Funding and Delivery Strategic Plan prepared by the City of West Hollywood, as evaluated by Metro, demonstrates that a reasonable ability to fund, operate and accelerate delivery of the project exists.
Key Considerations
Key considerations surrounding the efforts to study, plan, environmentally clear and accelerate project delivery include:
• Public Outreach - Stakeholder engagement during the initial study effort was focused. Broader public awareness and engagement efforts will result in significantly more input. The listening and responding that comes with genuine public engagement necessitates adaptability and flexibility during the process. This may result in the process taking additional time to work with the public and partner agencies.
• Acceleration Potential - The commitment and energy demonstrated by the City of West Hollywood and other supporters, in consultation with Metro, is needed to identify a capital, operations and maintenance funding strategy to advance delivery of the project from the currently planned FY2047 operating date to a much earlier date, while also addressing what the Feasibly /Alternatives Analysis Study found to be a significantly costlier project. The City of West Hollywood’s Funding and Delivery Strategic Plan will be crucial in determining whether the project warrants advancing into environmental review.
• Private Sector Ideation - The Challenge Statement to be issued by Metro will garner how the private sector views the challenges and solutions for achieving a greatly accelerated delivery of the Crenshaw Northern Extension project.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
These actions will not have any impact on the safety of our customers and/or employees because this Project is at the study phase and no capital or operational impacts result from this Board action.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The FY 2018-19 budget includes an initial $500,000 in Cost Center 4350 (Systemwide Team 2), Project 475558 (Crenshaw Northern Extension) to prepare the Advanced Alternatives Screening Study. Additional funding will be required, which will be requested of the Board at one or more future meetings.
Impact to Budget
The source of funding for this project is Measure M 35%. As these funds are earmarked for the Crenshaw Northern Extension project, they are not eligible for Metro bus and rail capital and operating expenditures.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The Board may decide not to approve advancing the Crenshaw Northern Extension project into an Advanced Alternatives Screening Study, including public outreach and screening of alternatives. This is not recommended because additional study with the benefit of broad public engagement is needed to advance the existing study to a level that would support future decision-making. The Board may also decline to conduct any further work, absent a realistic delivery and funding strategy being presently identified to deliver the project earlier than FY2047. This is not recommended because the City of West Hollywood has proposed to prepare a Funding and Delivery Strategic Plan to consider, which would be based upon Metro’s policy for an Early Project Delivery Strategy. Moreover, in 2016, Metro committed to conducting a study and environmental review of the Crenshaw Northern Extension project.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Should the Board choose to approve the recommendations, staff will proceed to implement the Board’s authorizations. Staff will keep the Board apprised and return to the Board at project milestones (Attachment C).
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Map of Crenshaw Northern Extension Alternatives
Attachment B - Crenshaw Northern Extension Feasibility/Alternatives Analysis Study Report - Executive Summary
Attachment C - Crenshaw Northern Extension Schedule
Attachment D - Procurement Summary
Attachment E - Task Order Modification Log
Attachment F - DEOD Summary
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Alex Moosavi, Manager, Transportation Planning (213) 922-2661
Roger Martin, Sr. Manager, Transportation Planning (213) 922-3069
Cory Zelmer, Sr. Director, Countywide Planning and Development (213) 922-1079
Laura Cornejo, Deputy Executive Officer, Countywide Planning and Development (213) 922-2885
David Mieger, Executive Officer, Countywide Planning and Development (213) 922-3040
Manjeet Ranu, Senior Executive Officer, Countywide Planning and Development, (213) 418-3157
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Therese W. McMillan, Chief Planning Officer, (213) 922-7077
