To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: Funding Agreement with the Tri-Valley Transportation Council to disburse Tri-Valley Transportation Development Fee funds for the Norris Canyon Road Slide Repair and Safety Improvement Project
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Public Works Director to execute a funding agreement with the Tri-Valley Transportation Council to allocate $359,041 in Tri-Valley Transportation Development Fee funds to Contra Costa County to construct the Norris Canyon Road Slide Repair and Safety Improvement Project, as recommended by the Conservation and Development Director.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None to the General Fund. The funding agreement will allocate Tri-Valley Transportation Development Fee funds towards construction of the Norris Canyon Road Slide Repair and Safety Improvement Project.
BACKGROUND:
In April 2022, the Tri-Valley Transportation Council (TVTC) adopted the 2022 TVTC Strategic Expenditure Plan (SEP) Update. The SEP Update allocated $538,561 in Tri-Valley Transportation Development Fee (TVTDF) funds in Fiscal Year 2022/2023 for the Norris Canyon Road Safety Improvement Project (“Project”), which spans both Contra Costa and Alameda Counties.
The Project would implement safety improvements on Norris Canyon Road from the City of San Ramon (Contra Costa County) to the City of Castro Valley (Alameda County). Safety improvements include widening the existing two-lane road with ten-foot lanes and no shoulders to a widened two-lane road with enhanced shoulders, along with safety improvements such as barrier rails where needed.
In June 2023, Contra Costa County was awarded United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Emergency Relief (ER) funding to repair a landslide that occurred in an area with existing safety deficiencies (e.g., a sharp horizontal curve with no barrier rail along the roadway and steep downward slopes into San Catanio Creek).
Overall, the Project (includes two eleven-foot lanes, three-foot wide shoulder, retaining wall, and barrier rails) would be combined with the USDOT FHWA ER funded project.
In January 2025, Contra Costa County and Alameda County executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to divide the allocated TVTDF funds between the two agencies so each could construct their section of the Project. TVTDF funds were divided as follows:
• Contra Costa County: $359,040.67 (2/3 of total allocation)
• Alameda County: $179,520.33 (1/3 of total allocation)
Contra Costa County is seeking its portion of TVTDF funds to construct the Contra Costa County section of the Project. The TVTC/Contra Costa County Funding Agreement is provided as EXHIBIT A and was approved by the TVTC Board on January 27, 2025.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the funding agreement is not executed, Contra Costa County will not have adequate funding to construct the Norris Canyon Road Slide Repair and Safety Improvement Project.