TO: LINDA REICH, CITY MANAGER
FROM: HYE JIN LEE, PE, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS
SUBJECT
title
Approve Amendment No. 10 to Huitt-Zollars, Inc. for Design Professional Services for the Pine Avenue Connection to SR71 Project (ST061).
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RECOMMENDATION
Approve a tenth amendment to the Design Professional Services Agreement with Huitt-Zollars, Inc., Irvine, CA, Agreement 2015-232, in the amount of $111,190 for a total agreement amount not to exceed $5,403,704.11; and authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents on behalf of the City.
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FISCAL IMPACT
Sufficient funds are included in the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Capital Improvement Program for Project No. ST061.
ST061 - Pine Avenue Connection to SR71
|
Fund |
Adopted Budget |
Expenditures/ Encumbrances |
Available Budget |
|
Transportation Fund (320) * |
$5,560,491.00 |
$5,224,593.52 |
$335,897.48 |
|
Measure I (322) |
$350,000.00 |
$325,900.90 |
$24,099.10 |
|
Measure I Arterial Subprogram Fund (328) |
$21,199,443.00 |
$934,302.06 |
$20,265,140.94 |
|
TOTALS: |
$27,109,934.00 |
$6,484,796.48 |
$20,625,137.52 |
*Transportation Fund (320) is backfilled by the General Fund (100), Bridges/Streets/Thoroughfare Fund (220), Bridges/Streets/Thoroughfare Preserve Fund (260), and by SAFETEA-LU grant.
CITY OF CHINO MISSION / VISION / VALUES / STRATEGIC ISSUES
The recommendation detailed above further the City’s values and strategic issues that serve as key pillars on which identified priorities, goals, and action plans are built, by fostering:
• Responsible Long-Range Planning
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Revenue: Click or tap here to enter text. |
Expenditure: 3207100-48004-ST061 3227190-48004-ST061 3287103-48004-ST061 |
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Transfer In: Click or tap here to enter text. |
Transfer Out: Click or tap here to enter text. |
BACKGROUND
The Pine Avenue Connection to State Route 71 Project (ST061) is a major roadway project that will extend Pine Avenue from State Route 71 (“SR71”) to its intersection with El Prado Road and will improve the existing roadway between El Prado Road and Euclid Avenue. The eventual construction of this four-lane urban arterial, which includes grading, a 500-ft bridge across Chino Creek, storm drain and stormwater quality facilities, and utility relocation, will fulfill the City of Chino’s Circulation Elements objective and will provide relief to the adjacent Butterfield Ranch Road and Central Avenue interchange at SR71.
Because the project is within the horizontal and vertical limits of the Prado Basin, a United States Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) facility, the project team has worked closely with the USACE for years to devise a conceptual design that meets their design requirements. Additionally, due to Federal Highway Administration (“FHWA”) funding, through the CalTrans Local Assistance Program, the project is subject to National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) compliance requiring thorough review from CalTrans of all environmental documentation which has required numerous reviews. Additionally, Chino Hills has provided comment and input since approximately half of the project (the westerly portion), including the 500-ft bridge, is within their jurisdiction.
The project’s design consultant, Huit-Zollars, has completed the 95-percent level plans. The environmental compliance phase is nearing completion with the environmental documents including the Initial Study/Environmental Assessment (“ISEA”) and Mitigated Negative Declaration (“MND”), soon to be formally approved by CalTrans. Further, all jurisdictional permits are submitted and in draft pending completed NEPA and California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) compliance. Preliminary utility relocation plans, including but not limited to Southern California Edison (“SCE”) distribution and transmission lines and transmission towers, have been designed or procured for utilities within the project limits. Finally, progress has been made in securing an offsite mitigation property, meeting the very specific jurisdictional agencies’ requirements.
As a result of the approval of Huitt-Zollars Amendment No. 9 on April 16, 2024, by City Council, negotiations have progressed for a specific offsite mitigation property, including a field visit, and work began immediately to update the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (“ESA”) and the Air Quality Report (“AQR”).
ISSUES/ANALYSIS
The Traffic Impact Analysis (“TIA”) included with the circulated environmental documents for Caltrans approval was initially conducted in 2017 and revised in 2020. The TIA was based on traffic counts conducted in 2016 and modeled for an opening year of 2023. As part of the update to the Air Quality Conformity Affirmation (“AQCA”), the City’s environmental consultant determined that at minimum, the opening year modeled in the report needed to be updated to the new Regional Transportation Plan (“RTP”) and Federal Transportation Improvement Program (“FTIP”) project listings of 2026. Additionally, staff was informed by SBCTA that the traffic counts exceeded the 3-year validity period set by Caltrans. Since COVID-19 restrictions have now eased and traffic patterns are likely different from 2016, staff made a determination that the traffic counts should be updated to justify the conclusions made in the study. Staff further met with the City of Chino Hills to discuss the update and sought their input for additional study locations within their jurisdiction. In collaboration with San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (“SBCTA”), Caltrans, and the City of Chino Hills, staff has concluded that new traffic data should be collected, and the data shall be used to revise the TIA and AQCA to reflect current traffic patterns and the corrected opening year. As a result of the collaborative meeting with Chino Hills, City staff has also requested that the TIA update consider a traffic signal warrant analysis at the intersection of Pine Avenue and Pomona Rincon Road, traffic safety design features to ensure speeds stay within a safe range for the project, and potential traffic calming measures.
It should be noted that the TIA update may trigger revisions to the noise reports, and the Final Initial Study/Environmental Assessment/Mitigated Negative Declaration (“ISEA/MND”). The new data and results may also yield changes in design speed, and subsequent safety features which may affect the current design of the roadway. With approval of Amendment No. 10, staff intends to review the recommendations of the updated TIA, expected to be completed by Fall 2024, in conjunction with the City of Chino Hills and determine if any revisions to these elements and project schedule will be necessary.
Upon approval of Huitt-Zollars Amendment 9, and in cooperation with Southwest Resource Management Association (“SRMA”), the project’s environmental consultant conducted avian surveys on a potential offsite mitigation property. An abundance of the endangered Least Bell’s Vireo (“LBV”) was observed. The bird was so prolific that SRMA staff was concerned that further field surveys would disturb the birds and their nesting activities. As such, additional supervision by a biologist is necessary to accompany the team during future field studies.
Table 1: Huitt-Zollars Professional Services Agreement Summary*
|
Contract 2015-232 Huitt-Zollars Cost Summary |
Amount |
|
Original Professional Services Agreement (PSA) |
$2,108,084.11 |
|
Amendment No. 3 (Substantial preliminary & final design, including bridge design) |
$1,531,100.00 |
|
Amendment No. 5 Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) Line Relocation |
$40,500.00 |
|
Amendment No. 6 - Environmental Services & Chino Hills Items |
$1,253,100.00 |
|
Amendment No. 9 - Structural design, Phase I ESA, Permitting & Mitigation |
$359,730.00 |
|
Proposed Amendment No. 10 - Updated Traffic Impact Report and Biologist Support of Field Studies |
$111,190.00 |
|
New Contract Total |
$5,403,704.11 |
*Term Extension Only - Amendments No. 1,2,4,7, and 8 not included.
It should be noted that the Plans Specifications and Estimates (“PS&E”) phase of the project is funded by SAFETEA-LU and the City of Chino will be reimbursed for 80% of the environmental documentation, permit fees, and Preliminary and Final Engineering costs. The current Federally funded grant is approximately $5,040,520.40. Staff is preparing a request for additional funds to support Amendments 9 and 10.
Therefore, staff recommends that the City Council approve a tenth amendment to the Design Professional Services Agreement with Huitt-Zollars, Inc., Irvine, CA, for $111,190 for an updated traffic impact analysis report and biologist support of future field studies.
Attachments: Huitt-Zollars Amendment (2015-232) (A10)