To: Board of Supervisors
From: Warren Lai, Public Works Director/Chief Engineer
Report Title: Grant application for the San Pablo Dam Road Diet Project, El Sobrante area.
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Public Works Director, or designee, to submit a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for the San Pablo Dam Road Diet Project, El Sobrante area. (District I)
FISCAL IMPACT:
If awarded, local grant match requirements would be 20%, with 80% coming from Safe Streets and Roads for All. Typically, local grant match would be from Road Fund revenues, however, given current funding constraint, other sources would need to be identified.
BACKGROUND:
On February 21, 2024, the DOT issued the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the SS4A grant program under the IIJA. In the notice, the DOT solicited applications for transportation projects and activities to support planning, infrastructure, behavioral, and operational initiatives to prevent death and serious injury on roads and streets. These initiates are to involve all roadway users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, public transportation, personal conveyance and micromobility devices, motorists, and commercial vehicle operators. Applications must be submitted by 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on May 16, 2024.
The DOT has authorized and appropriated $1.2 billion to be awarded as part of the 2024 SS4A grant program. The SS4A grant program categorizes applications as either: (a) Planning and demonstration grants or (b) Implementation grants. Planning and demonstration grants are intended to fund the development or enhancement of a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, which the County has already developed in the form of the Vision Zero Action Plan, which was adopted by the County in March 2022. Public Works is preparing to apply for an implementation grant to fund design and construction of the San Pablo Dam Road Diet Project, as previously identified in the Vision Zero Action Plan.
The federal cost share for the construction of capital projects is 80% with a local match requirement of 20%. The minimum award amount for an implementation grant is $2.5 million.
SS4A Implementation Grants must identify safety concerns to be addressed and the projects and strategies that the County plans to implement based on the Vision Zero Action Plan. According to the NOFO, successful grant applications will:
• Promote safety to prevent death and serious injuries on public roadways.
• Employ low-cost, high-impact strategies that can improve safety over a wide geographic area.
• Ensure equitable investment in the safety needs of underserved communities, which includes both underserved urban and rural communities.
• Incorporate evidence-based projects and strategies and adopt innovative technologies and strategies.
• Demonstrate engagement with a variety of public and private stakeholders; and
• Align with the DOT’s mission and strategic goals, such as safety; climate change and sustainability; equity and justice; and workforce development, job quality, and wealth creation.
The DOT will evaluate applications based on primary selection criteria, or merit criteria, listed in the following order of importance: (1) safety impact; (2) equity, engagement, and collaboration; and (3) effective practices and strategies. The DOT also evaluates projects in relation to other DOT strategic goals, such as climate and sustainability, economic competitiveness, and workforce development.
RECOMMENDED CANDIDATE PROJECT:
Public Works staff recommends submitting the San Pablo Dam Road Diet Project. This project will implement a road diet on San Pablo Dam Road by reconfiguring the roadway to create one travel lane in each direction, a center two-way left turn lane, and buffered bike lanes between Appian Way and Castro Ranch Road in the unincorporated El Sobrante area.
This project will implement the following long-term goals for San Pablo Dam Road:
• Improve safety, comfort, accessibility, and connectivity for all road users.
• Meet the needs of local residents living along San Pablo Dam Road and those commuting on the corridor.
• Provide a multi-modal friendly environment supporting all modes of travel.
• Encourage a shift in trip modes by Contra Costa County residents and visitors from motor vehicles to active modes such as walking and biking to create a more sustainable community and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This section of San Pablo Dam Road has been identified in the Contra Costa County Vision Zero Plan which aims to eliminate severe injuries and fatalities resulting from traffic collisions on County roadways. This project will reduce vehicle speeds by decreasing lane widths and improve bicycle safety by installing buffered bike lanes. In addition, this project improves our roadways with respect to the following currently adopted plans:
• General Plan
• Active Transportation Plan
• Complete Streets Policy
• Climate Action Plan
• Countywide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan
Public Works has conducted community outreach for this project on the following dates:
• Road diet study prepared by consultant TJKM on March 4, 2020.
• December 16, 2020, presented at Technical Advisory Committee meeting.
• December 11, 2021, received feedback from El Sobrante Municipal Advisory Committee (MAC)
• October 12, 2022, presented to the El Sobrante MAC.
• Report finalized on January 14, 2022.
• December 6, 2023, held a town hall meeting with El Sobrante residents.
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.
Given the current fiscal constraints to gas tax revenue, which is the primary source of local match funding, the Public Works Department will submit the San Pablo Dam Road Diet Project application “at risk.” If awarded, Public Works staff will need to seek other funding revenue to serve as the local match. This funding revenue has yet to be identified.
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 design and construction of this project.