DATE: August 9, 2016
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Highway Safety Improvement Program - Cycle 8 Grant Applications
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
TITLE
Consider and approve the recommended projects list to submit to the California Department of Transportation as candidate projects for Highway Safety Improvement Program Cycle 8 Federal grant funding.
REPORT
The recommended action will authorize the Director of the Department of Public Works and Planning, or his designee, to apply to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funding by the program deadline of August 12, 2016. A recommended list of projects is shown on Attachment A.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION:
If the recommended action is not approved, these grant applications will not be submitted to Caltrans.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. If the applications are approved for funding, the projects will be 100% federally funded with no matching requirements.
DISCUSSION:
The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST) was signed into law on December 4, 2015. Under FAST, the Highway Safety Improvement Program is a core Federal-aid program to States for the purpose of achieving a signification reduction in fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, including non-State-owned public roads on tribal land. Local HSIP projects must be identified on the basis of crash experience, crash potential, crash rate, or other data-supported means.
Caltrans announced HSIP Cycle 8 Call for Projects on May 9, 2016. The application due date for this cycle is Friday, August 12, 2016. This Call for Projects is targeted for approximately $150 million of Federal HSIP funds, however, there is no assurance that any of the proposed County projects will be selected for funding.
Funding consideration is given to projects with an expected Benefit-to-Cost (B/C) ratio greater than 3.5. The B/C ratio is calculated by dividing the economic benefit expected through crash reductions due to the project by the overall cost of the project. The benefit calculation must be based upon statewide crash reduction factors associated with the type of proposed improvement and the actual collision history. Projects with a ratio of less than 3.5 will be rejected by Caltrans. Although the minimum B/C ratio is 3.5, it is anticipated that funded projects will need to have a higher ratio. At the time of this writing, the final analysis of the B/C ratio associated with the projects proposed for application is being completed. Depending on the results, a candidate project may ultimately not qualify for funding.
It is the practice of the Department of Public Works and Planning to inform the Board of various funding grants that the Department is actively pursuing to maximize the use of Road Funds. It is also the practice of the Department to submit a preliminary list of projects for Board approval.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Vicinity Map
Attachment A
CAO ANALYST:
John Hays