To: Board of Supervisors
From: Warren Lai, Public Works Director/Chief Engineer
Report Title: Grant application for the Iron Horse Corridor User Separated Trails Planning Study, Alamo, Concord, Danville, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek areas.
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Public Works Director, or designee, to submit a Priority Conservation Area (PCA) grant application to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) for the Iron Horse Corridor (IHC) User Separated Trails Planning Study, Alamo, Concord, Danville, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek areas. (Districts II & IV)
FISCAL IMPACT:
Priority Conservation Area Funds (88%) and Park Dedication Funds (12%)
BACKGROUND:
The County is seeking funding from the MTC and ABAG in coordination with the State Coastal Conservancy (SCC) to augment local funds for planning in the IHC. This funding will stretch local dollars to plan, design, and build improvements that would not be possible otherwise. The current opportunity is through the MTC and ABAG PCA grant program. This program provides funding to cities, counties, park districts, utility districts, county transportation agencies, non-profits and other agencies to acquire, restore or improve places designated as PCAs within the nine-county Bay Area. This program was initiated in 2013.
On March 11, 2024, the MTC and ABAG issued the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the 2024 PCA grant program. In this notice, MTC and ABAG solicited applications for planning and design, project implementation, and acquisitions associated with the following program goals:
• Natural resource protection, restoration, or enhancement;
• Public access to open space and parklands;
• Support for the region’s agricultural economy; and
• Provision or enhancement of urban parks and green spaces.
Among the eligible project types are pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Specifically pedestrian and bicycle trails, on-road bicycle facilities, sidewalks, bicycle infrastructure, pedestrian and bicycle signals, pedestrian and bicycle bridges, traffic calming, lighting and other safety-related infrastructure, staging areas, improvements to trails to improve accessibility for people with disabilities, and conversion and use of abandoned rail corridors for pedestrians and bicyclists.
RECOMMENDED CANDIDATE PROJECT:
Public Works and Conservation and Development staff recommend submitting the IHC User Separated Trails Planning Study as a candidate project. This project will constitute the initial planning phase for developing a master plan for implementing user separated paths and other improvements in the IHC. Separation of pedestrian and wheeled transportation modes (bicycles, e-bikes, scooters, e-scooters) has been identified as the most pressing need from a safety and user experience standpoint in the IHC. Other improvements to be considered in the study are shade, drinking water, and rest areas.
If authorized to proceed, staff will prepare the grant application package for the candidate project. If during project research staff discovers a critical constraint that would result in the project being cost prohibitive or will not meet the eligibility requirements of the funding program, staff will hold the application for further study to increase project readiness for the following grant cycle.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the Public Works Department is not authorized to submit the application, grant funding will not be available, which will delay the planning, design and construction of this project.