Meeting_Body
CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE
NOVEMBER 18, 2021
Subject
SUBJECT: ROSECRANS/MARQUARDT GRADE SEPARATION PROJECT
Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
CONSIDER:
A. ESTABLISHING a Life of Project (LOP) budget in the amount of $156,437,550 million for the Rosecrans/Marquardt Grade Separation Project; and
B. AUTHORIZING the Chief Executive Officer to approve the award of and execute all contracts and agreements within the LOP budget for the Rosecrans/Marquardt Grade Separation Project.
Issue
ISSUE
The Rosecrans Marquardt Grade Separation Project has completed 100% final design plans, and it is currently in procurement for construction. Staff is requesting board approval of the LOP, which includes all phases of the project from environmental, planning and design to construction, including all third party and soft costs. The Rosecrans/Marquardt Grade Separation Project is fully funded with $156,437,550 in federal, state and local funds.
Background
BACKGROUND
The Rosecrans Marquardt Grade Separation Project (RM Project) is comprised of a new bridge overpass at the Rosecrans Avenue and Marquardt Avenue in the City of Santa Fe Springs that will separate the vehicular and pedestrians from the BNSF owned rail corridor. The Rosecrans Avenue and Marquardt Avenue grade crossing experiences a high volume of vehicular traffic with approximately 45,000 vehicles traveling through this grade crossing daily along with 130 Metrolink and Amtrak passenger trains and BNSF freight trains. This is equivalent to a train traveling through this crossing approximately every 10 minutes. In addition, this grade crossing traverses this intersection diagonally, which results in poor sight distance between roadway and railroad vehicles. With such heavy traffic on diagonal grade crossing configuration, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) identified the Rosecrans Avenue and Marquardt Avenue grade crossing as one of the most hazardous grade crossing in the state in 2017 and 2018.
The RM Project is an important regional rail project that will enable an increase of Metrolink and Amtrak passenger trains and accommodate the future California High Speed Rail service along this corridor.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Staff is recommending approval of the LOP budget in the amount of $156,437,550 million for the RM Project, which is fully funded with federal, state and local funds. The RM Project has completed the final design, and it is currently in procurement for construction. The LOP has been established for $156,437,550 million, including environmental, planning preliminary engineering, final design, construction, construction management support services, construction administration, real estate acquisitions, building demolitions, advanced utility relocations, third-party costs, legal, permits, & professional liability insurance, etc. The RM Project is a grade separation project that received CEQA Notice of Statutory exemption on February 29, 2016, and has also completed NEPA Findings of No Significant Impact Environmental Assessment on November 7, 2018.
|
Scope Description |
Total Cost (in millions) |
|
Planning, Environmental & Preliminary Engineering |
$ 1.970 |
|
Final Design Services & Design Support During Construction |
$ 5.998 |
|
Real Estate Acquisition |
$ 57.0 |
|
Soft Costs (Legal. Testing, etc.) & Third Party Costs |
$ 15.469 |
|
Early Demolition & Advance Utility Work |
$ 6.0 |
|
Construction including 4% cost escalation & contingency |
$70.0 |
|
TOTAL |
$156.437 |
A key component to the Rosecrans/Marquardt Avenue intersection with BNSF railroad crossing Is safety. The construction of a new separated bridge overpass will significantly improve safety, eliminate the possibility of train to vehicle collisions, reduce vehicle delays, and enhance the environment. This project is also an important regional rail project that will enable an increase in Metrolink and Amtrak passenger trains and accommodate the future California High Speed Rail service along this corridor.
There are no existing bike lanes located along Rosecrans Avenue or Marquardt Avenue. However, the LA Metro/Gateway Council of Governments Strategic Transportation Plan outlines the future construction of a class II bikeway facility on Rosecrans Avenue. The construction plans show the proposed Rosecrans to be 102’ wide with 6 lanes, 8 feet wide sidewalks on both sides, and therefore there will be sufficient room for future bike lanes.
Real Estate Acquisitions
Metro Real Estate is responsible for all property acquisitions and easements, including six industrial properties, two commercial properties, various partial and temporary easements, and 15 temporary construction easements (TCEs). All Property acquisitions have been completed in compliance with the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, as amended by the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 as well as the State of California land acquisition laws. Since this Project includes funding from federal and state sources, the Right-Of-Way (ROW) Certification was required prior to construction authorization. Metro Real Estate has already obtained the ROW Certification approval from Caltrans and has effective Orders of Possession (OP) on all properties and is ready for the start of construction.
Advanced Utility Relocations
The advanced utility relocation work was undertaken under the Cooperative & Funding Agreement with the City of Santa Fe Springs, signed and executed in July 2018. The cooperative agreement includes a section entitled “Relocation of City Utilities & Private Utilities” for the project. Under this agreement, the City of Santa Fe Springs sent written notice to all utility owners whose facilities were in conflict with the project, instructing them to relocate or remove the conflicting facilities at the utility owner’s cost in accordance with City’s Franchise Agreement with each utility owner. Utlizing the City’s Franchise Agreement, enabled the project to proceed with the advance utility relocation, maintaining project schedule, significantly reducing project risks and saving the project more than $10 million. This is an initial step in the Metro-staff proposed county-wide approach as part of our program-wide cost containment initiative.
Utility work began in early 2020 , and the relocation of gas and Verizon’s telecommunication lines has already been completed. Frontier’s and Charter/Spectrum’s communication lines relocation work is currently in progress and will be completed by January 2022.The Southern California Edison (SCE) electrical work involves the relocation of nine (9) overhead steel poles and replacement of six (6) overhead wood poles and being completed in three (3) phases. SCE has already completed the first phase and anticipating completing the second phase by the end of January 2022. SCE’s Phase-3 is in the fill area west of railroad tracks and will need to be completed concurrently with the grading and roadway construction of the new bridge overpass due to the significant change in grade.
Demolition Work
In preparation for the advance utility work, early demolition work began in early 2020 where a total of eight (8) buildings are to be demolished and four (4) buildings have already been cleared from the project site. The remaining 4 buildings are scheduled to be demolished by beginning in early November 2021 and be completed by January 2022 and ready for the construction work to begin.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
The approval of Board action will not have an impact on established safety standards. This Project will substantially improve safety as it is a grade separation of the roadway from active railroad right-of-way. With this Project, the at-grade crossing will be closed, eliminating the possibility of train to vehicle collisions at this intersection and improving traffic conditions. All aspects of the Project will be designed to be in accordance with BNSF's current design standards and will be in accordance with the General Orders of the California Public Utilities Commission.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Rosecrans/Marquardt Grade Separation Project is fully funded with $156,437,550 in local, state and federal grants as listed in Table 1.
|
TABLE 1 SOURCES OF FUNDS |
AMOUNT (in million) |
|
California High Speed Rail Prop 1A |
$ 76.665 |
|
California Public Utilities Commission Section 190- City of Santa Fe Springs |
$ 15.0 |
|
BNSF Railway |
$ 7.272550 |
|
Measure R 20% Highway |
$ 26.5 |
|
Federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery |
$15.0 |
|
California Senate Bill 1 Trade Corridor Enhancement Program (TCEP) |
$7 |
|
California State Transportation Improvement Program |
$9 |
|
TOTAL |
$156.437550 |
The funding required for FY22 is included in cost center 2415, Regional Rail, Project No. 460066, Task 6.3.01.03. This is a multi-year project and with Board approval, the future fiscal years (FY23, FY24, and FY25 - See Attachment A - LOP Cash Flow) will be budgeted by Metro Cost Center Manager and Chief of Program Management.
Impact to Budget
The funding sources are subject to change based on availability and eligibility at the time of expenditure. The funding sources are not eligible to be used for Metro bus/rail operating or capital budget expenses.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
From the beginning, the project team initiated a robust public engagement campaign that included a scoping meeting, community meeting and a public hearing, and stakeholder briefings. Informational materials, such as fact sheets and FAQs, a project website, Helpline and emails were established and made accessible to all the public. These outreach efforts will continue through construction. The project area is zoned as light industrial and is populated with industrial and commercial buildings. There are no residential buildings within the project area.All the acquired properties and the relocated businesses were relocated and received compensation in compliance with the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970. This project has established a 12% DBE participation goal.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The Board may choose not to move forward with the approval of LOP budget. This is not recommended as LOP is based on actual bids that provide an accurate construction cost forecast. Also, the LOP budget approach is consistent with Metro’s capital project delivery approach. Additionally, schedule delays and cost overruns will occur if the LOP budget is not approved.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Upon Board approval of the LOP budget, staff will move the Project forward into construction.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Life of Project Budget Cash flow
Attachment B - Project Funding Plan
Prepared_by
Dan Mahgerefth, Director of Engineering, (213) 418-3219
Jeanet Owens, Sr. Executive Officer, (213) 418-3179
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Bryan Pennington, Chief Program Management Officer,
(213) 922-7449
Debra Avila, Deputy Chief Vendor/Contract Management (213) 418-3051
