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Report regarding a resolution authorizing the acceptance of $15,000 in grant funding from Smart Growth America to support the City’s participation in the Complete Streets Leadership Academy with Caltrans. (Christopher Espiritu, Senior Transportation Planner)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the acceptance of $15,000 in grant funding from Smart Growth America (SGA) to support the City’s participation in the Complete Streets Leadership Academy with Caltrans.
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
In July 2022, Caltrans District 4 Staff approached the City of South San Francisco for support on their application to Smart Growth America’s Complete Streets Leadership Academies Program. The Program is a technical assistance and peer learning program with virtual and in-person workshops funded by a Cooperative Agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity.
The Program is designed to help state DOTs and local communities work together to put Complete Streets into practice, engage in peer learning, and improve cross-jurisdictional coordination. Caltrans was selected to participate in the Program to work with the City of South San Francisco, and the cities of Berkeley and San Leandro. Together, Caltrans and the three local jurisdictions will learn about Complete Streets best practices and discuss policy and procedural barriers to Complete Streets at the state and local levels. Throughout the workshops, participants will collaborate to plan and install a “quick-build” temporary Complete Street demonstration project on state-owned roadways at each jurisdiction (SSF: SR 82 - El Camino Real).
The City and its partners: Caltrans, SamTrans, San Mateo County Transportation Authority (SMCTA), San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE), Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC), and others, aim to obtain a better understanding of the challenges and potential for implementing Complete Streets concepts on South City streets. This Academy would be especially helpful in providing the City with tools for implementing Complete Streets projects on intra-city roadways, such as El Camino Real (SR 82) and replicate successful strategies for installation on local streets.
As part of the grant, SGA requires each jurisdiction to:
1. Engage its partners/cohort to attend virtual workshops.
2. Engage its partners/cohort to attend the in-person workshop in San Leandro, California
3. Install a Complete Streets temporary demonstration project on a state-owned road through coordination with Caltrans. This project shall be installed by Summer 2023.
4. Work with SGA to produce a case study about the participant city’s demonstration project and analyze its projected benefits;
The grant award would support the City’s Complete Streets temporary demonstration project to be installed on El Camino Real between Orange Ave and Ponderosa Ave (SSF High School). This includes a temporary reconfiguration of the roadway to implement the following elements:
- Protected bike lanes on both sides
- Bus/bike lane at bus stop locations
- Parking removal to accommodate the bike lane
- 3-stage Bike turn at ECR/Ponderosa to demonstrate/facilitate safe bike movements across the intersection
- No reduction in existing travel lanes but may need further discussion regarding a short bus/bike lane concept with Caltrans
More specifically, the grant award would be used for the purchase of temporary materials for the demonstration project (i.e., barriers, paint, temporary delineators) and other support needs including additional materials, supplies, or refreshments for a public event, or other expenses to make the project a success.
FISCAL IMPACT
Grant funds will be used to amend the Economic and Community Development Department’s current FY 22-23 Operating Budget per Budget Amendment #23.053. Receipt of these funds does not commit the City to ongoing funding.
RELATIONSHIP TO STRATEGIC PLAN
Grant funding to support the City’s participation in the Complete Streets Academy Program will provide an opportunity for the City to explore possible multi-modal safety improvements on a trial basis and collect information on challenges and advance the goals of the General Plan’s Mobility and Safety elements, and the City’s Active Transportation Plan (Active South City). The installation of temporary Complete Streets concepts is an action item in the City’s Strategic Plan under Priority #2: Quality of Life.
CONCLUSION
Receipt of these funds would support the City’s participation in the Complete Streets Leadership Academy and would introduce a Complete Streets demonstration project on an important corridor for the City. It is recommended that the City Council accept $15,000 in grant funding and amend the Economic and Community Development Department’s FY 22-23 Operating Budget via Budget Amendment #23.053.
Additional information can be located at this link:
<https://smartgrowthamerica.org/2022-complete-streets-leadership-academies/>
Attachments:
1) SGA Letter of Agreement
2) SGA SubGrant Guidance