Title
Report regarding the award of a Consulting Services Agreement to AECOM for the Utah Avenue Overcrossing Project and the acceptance of two San Mateo County Transportation Authority grants for said project and the Junipero Serra Boulevard & I-280 Westborough Boulevard Pedestrian and Bicycle Connectivity and Safety Project respectively. (Lawrence Henriquez, Senior Engineer)
label
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Adopt a resolution awarding a Consulting Services Agreement to AECOM of San Jose, California for the preparation of Plans, Specifications, and Estimate (PS&E) for the Utah Avenue Overcrossing Project (tr1404) in an amount not to exceed $8,000,000; accepting a San Mateo County Transportation Authority (TA) Highway Program grant in the amount of $2,700,000 with a local city match of $300,000; authorizing the City Manager to execute the services and grant agreements; and approving Budget Amendment Number 24.033 adding $3,000,000 to the project.
2. Adopt a resolution accepting a TA Highway Program grant in the amount of $1,486,790 for the Junipero Serra Boulevard & I-280 Westborough Boulevard Pedestrian and Bicycle Connectivity and Safety Project (st2301) with a local city match of $160,000; authorizing the City Manager to execute the TA Highway Program grant agreement; and approving Budget Amendment Number 24.032 adding $1,646,790 to the project.
Body
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The Utah Avenue Overcrossing Project ("Project") will construct an east-west connection across US 101. The Project will improve the connectivity on an existing US 101 off ramp, improve bike and pedestrian facilities, and remove some of the existing non-standard features at various locations. The Project will provide multi-modal mobility improvements at the intersections of Utah Avenue/South Airport Boulevard, Utah Avenue/San Mateo Avenue, and San Mateo Avenue/Produce Avenue/Airport Boulevard. The Project will not generate additional vehicular traffic; instead it will offer drivers an alternative route that will reduce the distances traveled by vehicles in the local area and improve internal traffic circulation to accommodate future growth.
On September 3, 2015, the San Mateo County TA approved a Measure A Highway Program grant to allow the City of South San Francisco to start the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED) for the US 101/Produce Avenue Interchange Project. The implementing agency, the City of South San Francisco, is responsible for the successful completion of each Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED). The PA&ED phase was completed by AECOM and approved by Caltrans on February 10, 2023.
On July 5, 2023, the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (TA) formally released the 2023 Highway Program Call for Projects, announcing the availability of up to $100 million in Measure A and Measure W funding for projects ready to start work within one year of receiving a funding award. And on August 9, 2023, City Council adopted a resolution authorizing staff to file a grant application for the 2023 TA Highway Program in support of the project. The TA formed a Project Selection Committee (Committee) to evaluate and score the applications. The Committee met on October 11, 2023, agreed upon the overall scoring and ranking of the 12 proposed projects, and developed funding recommendation options for the program. This past November, the City of South San Francisco was granted $2,700,000 for developing design concepts for the San Mateo Avenue / Airport Boulevard / Produce Avenue intersection which impacts traffic flows along southbound US 101 at the South Airport Boulevard off ramp. The intersection is part of the overall Utah Avenue Overcrossing Project that is slated for installing pedestrian and bicycling facilities while improving general traffic flow movements.
On September 27, 2023, City Council adopted a resolution accepting a $5,000,000 grant award from the California Transportation Commission in support of the Utah Avenue Overcrossing Project and authorizing the City Manager to execute a Cooperative Agreement with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The grant funds will be used for the PS&E phase of the project.
The project is aligned with the Transportation Authority's Strategic Plan and fulfills one of the Guiding Principles of the City's General Plan, which is to provide a safe, convenient, and accessible transportation network well-connected to the region. It also takes a modern approach towards moving the most people possible, minimizing the traffic impacts of regional growth while investing in all modes of travel. The Project would not add capacity through new US 101 freeway lanes, and the travel demand model results predicted only localized traffic shifts with the proposed overpass over the freeway.
Lastly, the TA Committee also granted $1,486,790 for the Junipero Serra Boulevard & I-280 Westborough Boulevard Pedestrian and Bicycle Connectivity and Safety Project for the next two phases of the project to develop the Project Initiation Document (PID) and the Project Approval & Environmental Document (PA&ED).
UTAH AVENUE OVERCROSSING PROJECT PS&E RFP PROCUREMENT
Staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) through the OpenGov website on September 8, 2023. In an effort to promote the advertisement, staff contacted various civil engineering firms from the City’s On-Call consultant list in addition to others. There were a total of 49 firms that downloaded the proposal. Proposals were due on October 27, 2023, with one (1) consulting firm, AECOM, submitting a proposal.
AECOM was invited for an interview set for November 12, 2023. The interview panel consisted of six members, the Director of Public Works, Principal Engineer, Senior Planner, two Senior Engineers, and a Caltrans Senior Project Manager.
The interview panelists scored the presentation in the following areas:
1. Knowledge and Understanding: Demonstrated understanding of the RFP objectives and work requirements. Identification of key issues. Knowledge, approach and understanding of the required services and scope of work.
2. Management Approach and Staffing Plan: Qualifications of project staff (particularly key personnel such as the project manager), key personnel’s level of involvement in performing related work and the team’s experience in maintaining schedule.
3. Qualifications of the Project Manager: Experience with similar projects and proven track record of success with an in-depth knowledge of the Caltrans procedures.
4. Qualifications of the Proposer Firm: Experience with similar projects. Technical experience in performing work related to type of services; capabilities of developing innovative or advanced techniques; strength and stability of the firm; technical experience and strength and stability of proposed subconsultants; experience navigating through the Caltrans procedures; and demonstrated communications quality and success.
5. Effectiveness of Interview / Presentation: An understanding of key challenges of the project along with a planned approach to engineering of the overall project.
The interview was scored by the panel members as follows:
|
|
Knowledge and Understanding (30) |
Management Approach and Staffing Plan (30) |
Qualifications of the Project Manager (10) |
Qualifications of the Proposer Firm (15) |
Effectiveness of Interview (15) |
|
AECOM |
29.3 |
27.8 |
9.5 |
14.7 |
14.5 |
The following is a summary of the negotiated fee proposal:
|
Consultant |
Total Fee |
|
AECOM |
$8,000,000 |
|
TOTAL |
$8,000,000 |
Based on the continued success of past project phase deliveries, breadth and depth of knowledge gained throughout the past 10 years, and proactive community engagement efforts, staff recommend AECOM to begin preparing the PS&E phase of the project.
REASONS FOR SOLE PROPOSAL RECEIVED
Following the RFP submittal deadline and the sole proposal received, staff contacted various engineering consulting firms to learn the reasons why they did not submit a proposal. A recurring reason often cited was having to compete against an incumbent that is highly reputable and qualified, in this case AECOM since they have been advancing the project since its onset. The firms also cited the fact that the PS&E phase is at an advanced stage, which poses a challenge in that much effort would be expended to bring themselves up to par to the knowledge level that AECOM has attained over the years. Also, the transportation industry is in high demand right now and firms are being careful and selective when seeking potential projects to fully commit to.
FISCAL IMPACT
Utah Avenue Overcrossing Project
The fiscal impact to the budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24 is shown in the table below. The project is included in the City of South San Francisco’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 Capital Improvement Program and there are sufficient grant funds to award the Consulting Services Agreement. Funding for the PS&E Phase of the project will be comprised of the California Transportation Commission Grant award in the amount of $5,000,000 which was accepted by Council on September 27, 2023, and the recently awarded TA Highway Program grant in the amount of $2,700,000 with a 10% local match of $300,000.
|
FUNDING SOURCE |
AMOUNT |
PURPOSE |
|
CA Transportation Commission |
$5,000,000 |
PS&E |
|
TA Highway Program Grant |
$2,700,000 |
PS&E |
|
East of 101 TIF |
$300,000 |
Local Match |
|
|
Total = $8,000,000 |
|
Junipero Serra Blvd / I-280 Westborough Project
The fiscal impact to the budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24 is shown in the table below. The project is included in the City of South San Francisco’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 Capital Improvement Program and there are sufficient grant funds to award the Consulting Services Agreement. Funding for the Project Initiation Document (PID) and the Project Approval & Environmental Document (PA&ED) phases of the project will be comprised of the TA Highway Program grant award in the amount of $1,486,790 which Council authorized staff to submit a grant application for on June 28, 2023, with a local match of $160,000.
|
FUNDING SOURCE |
AMOUNT |
PURPOSE |
|
TA Highway Program Grant |
$1,486,790 |
PS&E |
|
Citywide TIF |
$160,000 |
Local Match |
|
|
Total = $1,646,790 |
|
RELATIONSHIP TO STRATEGIC PLAN
Approval of this action will contribute to the City’s Strategic Plan goal of improved Quality of Life by providing a safe, convenient, and accessible transportation network that is well-connected to the region through the Utah Avenue Overcrossing Project and through the Junipero Serra Boulevard & I-280 Westborough Boulevard Pedestrian and Bicycle Connectivity and Safety Project.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends that the City Council of the City of South San Francisco:
1. Adopt a resolution awarding a Consulting Services Agreement to AECOM of San Jose, California for the preparation of Plans, Specifications, and Estimate (PS&E) for the Utah Avenue Overcrossing Project (tr1404) in an amount not to exceed $8,000,000; accepting a San Mateo County Transportation Authority (TA) Highway Program grant in the amount of $2,700,000 with a local city match of $300,000; authorizing the City Manager to execute the services and grant agreements; and approving Budget Amendment Number 24.033 adding $3,000,000 to the project.
2. Adopt a resolution accepting a TA Highway Program grant in the amount of $1,486,790 for the Junipero Serra Boulevard & I-280 Westborough Boulevard Pedestrian and Bicycle Connectivity and Safety Project (st2301) with a local city match of $160,000; authorizing the City Manager to execute the TA Highway Program grant agreement; and approving Budget Amendment Number 24.032 adding $1,646,790 to the project.