Title
Apply for U.S. Department of Transportation Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Opportunity for Federal Fiscal Year 2022-23 - Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding (Ordinance S-49764)
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to apply for, accept and, if awarded, enter into an agreement for disbursement of federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Federal Fiscal Year 2022-23 Safe Streets and Roads for All grant opportunity. If awarded, the funding will be used to implement projects and strategies in the Vision Zero Road Safety Action Plan. Further request to authorize the City Treasurer to Accept, and the City Controller to disburse, all funds related to this item. Funding for this grant opportunity is available through the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The total grant funds applied for will not exceed $25 million, and the City's local match would not exceed $6.25 million.
Report
Summary
The Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) is a funding program under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was signed into law on Nov. 15, 2021. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) on March 30, 2023, for the SS4A program for the second year of the program offering over a billion dollars in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2022-23. The intent of the program is to offer a competitive discretionary grant opportunity to support planning, infrastructure, behavioral and operational initiatives to prevent death and serious injuries involving all roadway users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation users, personal conveyance and micromobility users, motorists and commercial vehicle operators.
On Sept. 7, 2022, City Council approved the Street Transportation Department's (Streets) Vision Zero Road Safety Action Plan (RSAP). The RSAP is one of the key SS4A grant requirements to apply for funding designated under the implementation grants category. The department was successful in obtaining $460,000 in FFY 2021-22 SS4A funding in supplemental action funds to enhance and build upon the existing planning efforts approved through the RSAP. If awarded this year, the funding will be used for implementation of projects and strategies in the RSAP.
Streets staff evaluated prior year successful implementation awards and consequently changed the focus of this second-round submittal to be more in line with the first round of awarded implementation grants. The focus on this second-round submittal will be a more comprehensive corridor approach utilizing key strategies identified in the RSAP to target safety improvements along one of the City's busiest and high-injury-prone corridors: Indian School Road, west of 39th Avenue. Staff is evaluating all of the grant criteria to ensure a competitive final grant submittal is achieved with a focus on these grant priorities as defined in the SS4A NOFO:
- Promoting safety to prevent death and serious injuries on public roadways;
- Employing low cost, high-impact strategies that can improve safety over a wide geographic area;
- Ensuring equitable investment in the safety needs of under-served communities, which includes under-served urban communities;
- Incorporating evidence-based projects and strategies and adopting innovative technologies;
- Demonstrating engagement with a variety of public and private stakeholders; and
- Aligning with USDOT's mission and strategic goals such as safety, climate change and sustainability, equity and Justice 40, workforce development, job quality and wealth creation.
The City intends to submit an implementation grant application with a total project cost up to $31.25 million, which includes final design, environmental and construction costs related to the implementation of projects that will deliver countermeasure solutions to improve roadway safety along Indian School Road corridor, west of 39th Avenue.
The SS4A grant submittal deadline is July 10, 2023.
Financial Impact
The estimated total cost for the project is approximately $31.25 million. The maximum federal participation rate is 80 percent with a minimum local match of 20 percent of the total project cost. If awarded, the federal match would not exceed $25 million, and the City’s costs would be approximately $6.25 million for the local match.
Funding for the local match is available in the Streets Transportation Department’s Capital Improvement Program budget. Potential grant funding received is available through the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, from USDOT through the FFY 2022-23 SS4A grant opportunity.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
The Transportation, Infrastructure and Planning Subcommittee recommended approval of this item on May 17, 2023, by a vote of 4-0.
Location
Along Indian School Road, west of 39th Avenue.
Council Districts: 4 and 5
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Managers Mario Paniagua and Alan Stephenson and the Street Transportation Department.