Title
South Central Light Rail Extension Project Funding Agreement (Ordinance S-43427)
Description
This item requests to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to amend the current funding agreement with Valley Metro for the South Central Light Rail Extension Project to fund the final design and pre-construction activities required for completion of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Engineering phase. The project will extend Light Rail Transit from Downtown Phoenix to Baseline Road along Central Avenue. The funding agreement amendment is for an amount not to exceed $50 million, which is in line with typical costs for a project of this size; the anticipated overall cost for the multi-year South Central Light Rail Extension Project is estimated at $704 million, including federal, regional and local funding sources. This item further requests to authorize the City Controller to disburse the funds for purposes of this agreement.
Report
Summary
In December 2013 following extensive work with the community, the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee and City Council approved Light Rail Transit (LRT) on Central Avenue as the preferred transit mode and alignment for the South Central Corridor. Following further study and additional community meetings and discussion, in November 2014 the T&I Subcommittee and City Council approved a recommendation to refine the alignment by identifying station locations and modifying the roadway configuration to primarily two lanes of vehicle traffic to protect the existing properties, buildings and businesses as much as possible, while providing flared intersections at all major arterial crossings. The flared intersections provide for left-turn, through-traffic and right-turn lanes to optimize traffic capacity and provide more efficient traffic flow on Central Avenue. The refined configuration allows enhanced landscaping, continuous dedicated bike lanes throughout the entire corridor and new sidewalks, all of which support a multi-modal design for this future extension.
The November 2014 Council action also specifically authorized the commencement of the environmental review. The Valley Metro Rail Board approved these same items at their December 2014 Board meeting. On Jan. 6, 2017, following several months of review the FTA granted the project environmental clearance with a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) ruling. The FONSI ruling accomplished a major project milestone allowing the project to remain on schedule with the 2023 opening date, which the City Council advanced from the previous 2034 opening following voter approval of Proposition 104. It is important to recognize that the approved alignment and configuration enables the project to perform very well within the FTA's existing rating criteria, as the project introduces light rail transit into a high transit demand community while minimizing the environmental impacts on businesses and neighborhoods and preserving their character/history.
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has demonstrated significant interest in the South Central Light Rail project, previously awarding the City of Phoenix a $1.6 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to conduct an environmental assessment and preliminary engineering, and recognizing it as one of only seven national transportation projects in the USDOT Ladder Step Transportation Empowerment Program. This program provides USDOT support in advancing transportation projects that empower, connect, and revitalize communities.
The amendment to the funding agreement is necessary for Valley Metro to complete professional design and preconstruction services for the South Central Light Rail Extension Project, which includes: final design services including further exploration of traffic efficiencies within the federally-approved environmental area; preparation of legal descriptions of right-of-way, permits, insurance, and other legal documentation as required; archeology data testing and recovery; plan review by third parties; community relations support through final design completion; and other surveys, testing, and inspections as necessary. The additional funding will allow Valley Metro to complete all work required in the engineering phase.
Financial Impact
The estimated total cost to complete the professional design, pre-construction services and all other FTA New Starts engineering phase activities is $50 million. The anticipated overall total project cost is estimated at $704 million, including federal, regional and local funding sources.
FY2018: $18,020,000
FY2019: $29,140,000
FY2020: $ 2,840,000
Total: $50,000,000
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
On Jan. 26, 2017, the Citizens Transportation Commission (CTC) voted to recommend T&I Subcommittee and City Council approval of the amendment to the current funding agreement with Valley Metro for an amount not to exceed $50 million for the South Central Light Rail Extension Project to fund the final design and pre-construction activities required for the completion to the FTA New Starts Engineering phase.
This item was heard at the April 11, 2017 Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee meeting and recommended by a vote of 3-0, with direction that the design work include a fully comprehensive traffic analysis that assesses potential business impacts to be conducted early in the process and a report back to the Subcommittee as soon as it is completed.
Public Outreach
Valley Metro, in partnership with the City of Phoenix, has led a comprehensive community outreach program, holding more than 180 public and stakeholder meetings since the project's inception. Also, prior to the FTA finalizing its environmental clearance ruling, the community provided 59 comments to the South Central Light Rail extension environmental assessment report. Moreover, in preparation for the final design work, Valley Metro and the City of Phoenix have begun conducting one-on-one meetings with individual businesses along the corridor to begin assessing the unique needs of each site for incorporation into the design work. Valley Metro also recently coordinated bus tours for South Central business/property owners of the downtown Mesa light rail extension, which also included a reduction to two lanes with similarities to the currently-approved South Central rail extension project.
Location
Central Avenue from Jefferson Street to Baseline Road (see Attachment A).
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Public Transit Department.