DATE: November 8, 2022
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: Retroactive Approval of Highway Safety Improvement Program Cycle 11 and Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Applications
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Retroactive Approval of Highway Safety Improvement Program Cycle 11 Grant Applications ($2,630,385); and
2. Retroactive Approval of Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Application ($302,720).
REPORT
Approval of the first recommended action will retroactively authorize two funding applications submitted by the Director of the Department of Public Works and Planning (Department) to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) Cycle 11 to meet the deadline of September 12, 2022. Approval of the second recommended action will retroactively authorize one application submitted by the Department to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) discretionary grant program to meet the deadline of September 15, 2022. The first recommended action pertains to locations in Districts 1, 3, 4, and 5, while the second recommended action’s impact is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If the recommended actions are not approved, the HSIP applications submitted to Caltrans and the SS4A application submitted to USDOT will be withdrawn from funding consideration.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. If the grant applications are successful, the local matches for HSIP ($312,815) and SS4A ($75,680) would be covered by the Department of Public Works and Planning - Road Fund 0010. Awards are anticipated in Spring of 2023.
DISCUSSION:
The HSIP dates back to 1979 and is one of the core Federal-aid programs for transportation safety projects. It has been reauthorized by Congress in subsequent transportation bills, most recently the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The purpose of the HSIP program is to achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, including non-State-owned public roads and 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. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) allocates funding to Caltrans, who in turn issue a state-wide competitive call for projects every two years. Since Cycle 1 was issued in 2005, the County has received over $8 million in funding for HSIP projects. In order to apply for funding in the current Cycle 11, local agencies were required to adopt a Local Road Safety Plan (LRSP), which your Board adopted on June 7, 2022.
The LRSP, a data-driven safety analysis, identified high-priority projects which were in turn selected as candidate projects to submit for Cycle 11. The scope of the projects was developed by assessing the highest-impact, lowest-cost solutions. There are two categories of HSIP funding, the highly competitive Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) category and the set-aside category. The Auberry and Frazier Road Intersection Realignment is a BCR project, estimated to cost $2,644,900 and with a calculated BCR of 16.46, or $43 million. If the project is funded, the HSIP will provide 90% of the cost ($2,380,410). The other project submitted was in the set-aside category of Edge Line Striping, at a cost of $298,300, of which HSIP will cover 84% of the cost ($249,975). This category is not as competitive, as a BCR is not required, but only $250,000 is available per agency, with a maximum of $2 million statewide.
The SS4A grant program is a new program created by Congress under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The primary goal of the SS4A grant is to improve roadway safety by supporting communities in developing comprehensive safety action plans based on a Safe System Approach and implementing projects and strategies that significantly reduce or eliminate transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries involving all roadway users. The SS4A program supports the USDOT’s comprehensive approach, laid out in the National Roadway Safety Strategy, to significantly reduce serious injuries and deaths on the nation’s highways, roads, and streets and is part of the work toward an ambitious long-term goal of reaching zero roadway fatalities. This comes at a time when traffic fatalities are at the highest level they have been in over a decade.
The Department submitted an application for an Action Plan grant to further develop sections of the County’s LRSP. The Action Plan will build on the foundation set by the LRSP and will include a comprehensive plan to devise measurable outputs and outcomes for implementing safety countermeasures, create a task force of internal and external stakeholders to develop and monitor the plan, and assess current policies and processes (including a financial analysis of road safety resource allocation), to ensure accountability, identify priorities and improve those processes. Enhancing the LRSP will also make the County eligible for a SS4A Implementation Grant, which would provide funding to implement safety improvements. The anticipated cost of the project is $378,400, of which SS4A will provide 80% of the funding ($302,720). If the SS4A grant is funded, the Department will return to the Board with recommendations for the establishment of a safety task force and the adoption of safety goals.
Due to the extensive time required for engineering, planning, and analyst staff to perform field reviews, take photographs, research and develop scopes, estimates and project narratives, the application details aren’t finalized until shortly before the application’s due date; requiring the Board’s approval to be retroactive.
OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES:
Caltrans is the reviewing agency for HSIP grant applications, and USDOT will review SS4A grant applications.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #13, June 7, 2022
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Location maps
On file with Clerk - HSIP Application - Auberry Road & Frazier Road Intersection Realignment
On file with Clerk - HSIP Application - Edge Line Striping in Various Locations
On file with Clerk - SS4A Application - Action Plan Grant for County of Fresno, California
CAO ANALYST:
Salvador Espino