To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: Metropolitan Transportation Commission Transit-Oriented Communities Planning and Implementation Grants Program
☒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 $400,000 from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Transit-Oriented Communities Planning and Implementation Grants Program to conduct an update to the Bailey Road Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvement Plan.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None to the General Fund. Staff time for recommended activities is covered under existing budgets (50% Road Fund and 50% Measure J Fund). The expected duration of the grant period is 18 months from the date of an award.
BACKGROUND:
In 2010, the County adopted the Bailey Road Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvement Plan. The plan identified design concepts that would improve walking and bicycling along Bailey Road between Willow Pass Road and the Pittsburg-Bay Point BART Station Access Road in Bay Point.
In October 2024, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission released final grant guidelines and a call for projects for a new grant program called the Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) Planning and Implementation Grants Program. The grant program will provide funding for activities that support TOCs, which are land-use developments near major transit stops that encourage transit ridership and allow for residents of all abilities, income levels, and racial and ethnic background to live, work, and access services. One focus of this grant program is to fund activities that enhance multimodal access to and within TOC station areas. The minimum and maximum grant award for TOC station area access enhancement activities is $100,000 and $400,000, respectively. No local match is required.
Department of Conservation and Development staff has identified one candidate project to submit to the TOC Planning and Implementation Grants Program for funding: an update to the Bailey Road Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvement Plan. The updated plan will review the original plan’s proposed bicycle and pedestrian improvements along the segment of Bailey Road between Canal Road just north of State Route 4 and the Pittsburg-Bay Point Station Access Road. This effort will evaluate opportunities to implement more robust bicycle and pedestrian enhancements that better reflect the current state of the practice. In coordination with the City of Pittsburg, the update will also evaluate the segment of Bailey Road from the Pittsburg-Bay Point Station Access Road south to Leland Avenue within the City of Pittsburg. The update will consider other bicycle and pedestrian improvements along the Bailey Road corridor, including the County’s future protected two-way cycletrack on Bailey Road north of Canal Road to Willow Pass Road and BART’s proposed protected bicycle facility on BART Station Access Road from Bailey Road to the BART station, and nearby land developments, such as the proposed Orbosonia Village mix-used development, which will be constructed adjacent to Bailey Road across the street from the BART Station Access Road. The total estimated cost to conduct the update is $400,000.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
County staff will not submit a grant application for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Transit-Oriented Communities Planning and Implementation Grants Program and forgo potential grant funding.