Meeting_Body
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
OCTOBER 14, 2020
Subject
SUBJECT: EAST SAN FERNANDO VALLEY LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT - FIELD INVESTIGATION OF UTILITIES
Action
ACTION: AUTHORIZE A CONTRACT MODIFICATION
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
AUTHORIZE the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to execute Modification No. 00009 to Contract No. AE58083E0129 with Gannet Fleming, Inc. for the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor Project, for field confirmation of utility conflicts consisting of potholing and slot trenching along Van Nuys Blvd. for Segment A (Oxnard Blvd to Covello St.), in the amount of $1,691,789 increasing the total Contract amount from $62,028,016 to $63,719,805.
Background
BACKGROUND
The East San Fernando Valley (ESFV) Light Rail Transit Project (Project) is a light rail system that will extend north from the Van Nuys Metro Orange Line station to the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station, a total of 9.2 miles with 14 at-grade stations. Light rail trains will operate in the median of Van Nuys Boulevard for 6.7 miles to San Fernando Road. From there, they will transition onto existing Metro right-of-way and follow a shared corridor with Metrolink and freight for 2.5 miles to the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink Station.
On June 28, 2018, the Metro Board approved the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) as Alternative 4: Light Rail Transit (LRT). The Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) / Environmental Impact Report (EIR) are expected to be presented to the Metro Board for certification before end of 2020 along with the FTA issuing a Record of Decision (ROD).
Metro continues to advance the Project design in anticipation of the procurement for a Design Build contractor to begin in 2021 and conclude with a selection in 2022. Groundbreaking for construction is scheduled to begin in 2022. The schedule for advancing the design, which includes utility investigations, and preparing solicitation documents is critical to achieve groundbreaking in 2022 and completion in time for the Olympics.
Issue
ISSUE
The recommended Contract Modification includes field investigations of utilities along Van Nuys Blvd to identify the location of existing utilities and to determine if those utilities can remain in place or require relocation. Gannett Fleming, Inc, the ESFV Engineering Consultant for Metro, will conduct this field investigation work as part of their Phase 1 Preliminary Engineering work.
Utility relocation, particularly for underground utilities is one of the major risk in any new rail project. Early and extensive investigations and engineering to identify utility locations, conditions and remediation strategies has proven to be a lesson learned and best practice on Metro projects. This action will greatly assist in mitigating utility risk.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
In 2019, Metro awarded to Gannett Fleming, Inc. a cost plus fixed fee (CPFF) contract for Architecture Engineer (AE) services to advance the design for the design build project delivery method (Phase 1), support during the solicitation process (Phase 2) and design support during construction (Phase 3) for the Project. As part of Phase 1, Gannett Fleming compiled existing utility as-built information into composite utility drawings and conducted non-invasive field investigation work to initially verify the as-built information. In order to confirm the initial investigation and provide accurate information on the contract drawings, Gannett Fleming will conduct more thorough field investigations of utilities to identify the existing utility locations and use this information to determine if there is a conflict with the proposed project alignment. The more thorough field investigation work will consist of potholing and slot trenching at specific locations along the 9.2 miles of Project alignment.
In an effort to effectively manage the Project, the alignment was divided into four (4) segments identified as Segments A thru D, with each approximately 2-miles in length. For the field investigation work as defined in the Architectural Engineering contract, this segmented approach was implemented. Therefore, a contract modification is anticipated to implement potholing and trenching for each segment for a total of four (4) contract modifications. In order to keep the design moving forward, this request is for Segment A (Oxnard Blvd to Covello St). A separate request for the remaining three segments will be presented at a future Board meeting.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
This Board action will not have an adverse impact on safety standards for Metro.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This Project is funded on a fiscal year basis under Project number 865521 East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor, cost center 8510, under various accounts including Professional/Technical Services and $12.8m is included in the FY21 Adopted Budget. This is a multi-year project requiring expenditure authorizations in fiscal year increments until a Board Authorized Life of Project Budget is adopted. It is the responsibility of the Cost Center Manager, Project Manager and Chief Program Management Officer to budget for this project in the future fiscal years and within the cumulative budget limit for the affected fiscal year.
Impact to Budget
Sources of funds for the recommended actions are Measure M 35% and State Grants. There is no impact to Operations eligible funding. No other funds were considered
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The Metro Board could decide not to approve this contract modification. Staff does not recommend this alternative because this utility investigation work is necessary for Metro to make informed decisions concerning existing utilities and will assist the Design Build contractors during the procurement process with accurate information.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Upon Metro Board adoption, staff will complete negotiations and execute the contract modification and will return at a future board meeting for approval of the remaining contract modifications for Segments B-D.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Procurement Summary
Attachment B: Contract Modification / Change Order Log
Attachment C: DEOD Summary
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Monica Born, Deputy Executive Officer, Program Management, (213) 418-3097
Rick Meade, Senior Executive Officer, (213) 922-7917
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by:
Richard Clarke, Chief Program Management Officer, (213) 922-7557
James De La Loza, Chief Planning Officer, (213) 922-2920
Debra Avila, Chief Vendor/Contract Management Officer, (213) 418-3051
