To: Board of Supervisors
From: Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Committee
Report Title: Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Application
☐Recommendation of the County Administrator ☒ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Conservation and Development Director, or designee, to apply for and accept an amount not to exceed $420,515 from the Fiscal Year 2024-25 Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant program to conduct the Bay Point Enhanced Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements Study.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None to the General Fund. Match funding not to exceed $54,485 (11.47% of total study cost) will be an in-kind contribution of staff time. Staff time for recommended activities is covered under existing budgets (50% Road Fund and 50% Measure J Fund).
BACKGROUND:
On October 5, 2023, Caltrans released final grant guidelines and a call for proposals for the 2024-25 Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program. The grant program will provide funding to encourage local and regional planning activities that further state goals, including, but not limited to, the goals and best practices cited in the Regional Transportation Plan Guidelines adopted by the California Transportation Commission. This cycle is expected to include approximately $25 million in Senate Bill 1 (2017) statewide competitive funding. The maximum grant award is $700,000 and an 11.47% match is required (cash or in-kind contribution). Applications are due on January 18, 2024, 5:00 p.m.
Department of Conservation and Development and Public Works Department staff collaborated to identify one project to submit to the grant program to fund a study, based on its perceived success relative to grant program objectives and previously awarded projects. The project, titled the Bay Point Enhanced Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements Study, proposes to evaluate active transportation improvements, including Class IV protected bicycle facilities and green infrastructure in Bay Point. Specifically, the project is along the Port Chicago Highway corridor between McAvoy Harbor and Willow Pass Road and along the Willow Pass Road corridor between the intersection of Evora Road/westbound State Route 4 ramps and the border with the City of Pittsburg.
The improvements to be evaluated are identified in both the County's Active Transportation Plan and the Vision Zero Report.
The total estimated cost to conduct the study is $475,000, with the County providing a local match, in the form of an in-kind contribution, of $54,485.
At its December 2023 meeting, the Transportation, Water, and Infrastructure Committee considered the proposal and recommended forwarding it to the Board of Supervisors for approval to submit to the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
County staff will not submit a grant application for the Fiscal Year 2024-25 cycle of Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant program and lose potential funding for a County project.