Art3_Highland_FY15_BikePed_Connector_Board_230301Entity: San Bernardino County Transportation Authority
Minute Action
AGENDA ITEM: 16
Date: March 1, 2023
Subject:
Highland/Redlands Regional Connector Project Modifications
Recommendation:
That the Board, acting as the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority:
Approve the following actions related to Fiscal Year 2015/2016 Transportation Development
Act (TDA) Article 3 funds awarded to the City of Highland for the Highland/Redlands Regional
Connector Project (Project):
A. Reallocate $565,529 from construction to pre-construction.
B. Approve a scope change from construction to pre-construction.
C. Rescind the City of Redlands Fiscal Year 2019/2020 TDA Article 3 award in the amount of
$157,934 (allocation L20-0702-0746-00).
D. Separate the 4.7 5.25-mile Project into three (3) separate projects including:
a.North (1.5 1.55 miles)
b. Gap (2.45 2.85 miles)
c. South (0.75 0.85 miles)
E. Authorize SBCTA staff to prepare the Gap Project for possible funding through the Active
Transportation Program Cycle 7 by reopening the Incidental Take Permit with California
Department of Fish and Wildlife and allocate $200,000 from the TDA Article 3 funds for the
effort.
F. Allocate Federal Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) funding in the amount not-to-exceed
$701,913 to the City of Highland, with a $150,287 (or 17.64% if the total comes in under
budget) local match, for the North Project.
G. Allocate Federal CRP funding in the amount not-to-exceed $677,340 to the City of Redlands,
with a $75,260 (or 10% if the total comes in under budget) local contribution, for the
South Project.
Background:
San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) oversees the disbursement of 2% of
the Local Transportation Funds (LTF) made available to counties and cities for facilities for
exclusive use by pedestrians and bicyclists, known as the Transportation Development Act
(TDA) Article 3 Program. In August 1999, the SBCTA Board of Directors (Board) approved a
policy that 80% of the TDA Article 3 Program funds would be made available for projects that
improve bicycle and pedestrian facilities. The remaining 20% would be available for projects
that improve access to transit stops for pedestrians and persons with disabilities.
Another competitive funding source for active transportation projects is the
Active Transportation Program (ATP) which was created by Senate Bill (SB) 99 (Chapter 359,
Statutes 2013) and Assembly Bill 101 (Chapter 354, Statutes 2013) to encourage increased use
of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking. Knowing that the
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) would soon be releasing a Cycle 2 ATP
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San Bernardino County Transportation Authority
Call for Projects, the Board preemptively released a TDA Article 3 Call for Projects on
February 4, 2015 to provide local match assistance for member jurisdictions who intended to
submit Cycle 2 ATP applications. The highest scoring TDA Article 3 application submitted for
Cycle 2 ATP match was entered by the City of Highland for the Highland/Redlands Regional
Connector Project (Project). On April 1, 2015, the Board awarded $702,562 to the City of
Highland to be used as a match for what they estimated to be a $4,391,010 Project. At that time,
the City indicated they would be seeking $3,512,810 through the Cycle 2 ATP Call for Projects
and provide a combined local match of $175,639. See Figure 1 for the Fiscal Year
(FY) 2015/2016 TDA Article 3 Project Programming Request (PPR).
Figure 1: FY 15/16 TDA Article 3 Application PPR
Phase TDA Art 3 Cycle 2 ATP Highland Redlands Total
E&P (PA/ED)$37,069 $185,344 $5,267 $4,000 $231,680
PS&E $52,599 $262,998 $8,021 $5,128 $328,746
SUBTOTAL $89,668.00 $448,342.00 $13,288.00 $9,128.00 $560,426.00
CON SUPport (CT)$78,899 $394,496 $12,032 $7,693 $493,120
CON $533,994 $2,669,972 $82,214 $51,284 $3,337,464
TOTAL $702,561.00 $3,512,810.00 $107,534.00 $68,105.00 $4,391,010
The Project aimed to construct new active transportation improvements including Class I, II, and
IV bicycle and pedestrian paths in the cities of both Highland and Redlands. Upon completion,
approximately 4.7 miles of new bicycle and pedestrian trails were to be completed between the
two cities. These improvements would directly impact students using non-motorized
transportation to access Citrus Valley High School (CVHS). CVHS opened in the City of
Redlands with an attendance area boundary map almost entirely in the City of Highland.
The only direct route to the school from Highland is via Boulder Avenue/Orange Street, which is
currently a two-lane roadway with no
bicycle/pedestrian facility. Upon completion of
the Project, students would be able to bicycle or
walk to and from CVHS. As an additional
bonus, this Project would also bisect the eventual
Santa Ana River Trail (SART) project at
Orange Street. This connectivity would allow for
all users of the Project to connect to the SART,
which ultimately terminates at the Pacific Ocean.
See Figure 2 for list of improvements and green
lines on the Map 1 for project alignment.
By the time the City of Highland submitted their Cycle 2 ATP application, the total project cost
estimate had gone up slightly to $4,545,000 and their ATP request amount also went up to
$3,636,000. It should be noted that their application showed an incorrect TDA Article 3 match
of $727,115 instead of the amount with which they were actually awarded which was $24,554
less, totaling $702,561. See Figure 3 for Cycle 2 ATP application PPR.
Figure 3: Cycle 2 ATP PPR
Phase TDA Cycle 2 ATP Highland Redlands Total
PA/ED $32,000.00 $160,000.00 $4,000.00 $4,000.00 $200,000.00
PS&E $53,561.00 $267,806.00 $8,185.00 $5,205.00 $334,757.00
R/W $17,600.00 $88,000.00 $4,400.00 $0.00 $110,000.00
SUBTOTAL $103,161.00 $515,806.00 $16,585.00 $9,205.00 $644,757.00
CON $623,954.00 $3,079,769.00 $96,129.00 $59,859.00 $3,859,711.00
CON-NI $0.00 $40,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $40,000.00
TOTAL $727,115.00 $3,635,575.00 $112,714.00 $69,064.00 $4,544,468.00
New Route Class Limits Length
(Miles)
Pioneer St I Texas St to Orange St 0.50
Orange St I and IV Pioneer St to Pole Line Trail 1.75
Orange St II Pole Line Trail to Eucalyptus Dr 0.50
Lot "Y" Easement I Eucalyptus Dr to Streater Dr 0.20
Streater Dr II Base Line to Glenheather Dr 0.60
Glenheather Dr II Streater Dr to Church St/Love St 0.30
Love St II Church St to Elder Gulch Paseo 0.10
Boulder Ave II Greenspot Rd to Orange St 0.75
4.70
Original Project Scope
Total
Figure 2: Original Cycle 2 ATP Project Scope
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On September 15, 2015, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) released the staff
recommended award list for Cycle 2. The Project was ranked second on the recommendation list
within San Bernardino County and earned enough points to secure an award.
Subsequent to the award of the ATP Cycle 2 grant, the Cities of Highland and Redlands awarded
a design contract to KOA Corporation. During the environmental approval phase of the Project,
the team experienced cost overruns due to the Project's footprint through the Santa Ana River
Wash and the timeline for approval of the Upper Santa Ana River Wash Land Management and
Habitat Conservation Plan. As a result of these challenges, additional mitigation measures were
reported to be required, which caused a rise in the budget and the need for additional grant
funding. This prompted the City of Redlands to seek additional funding through the TDA
Article 3 Call for Projects released on February 4, 2019. On July 10, 2019, the Board awarded a
partial award in the amount of $157,934, with a $17,548 local match, to the City of Redlands for
a portion of the Project within their jurisdiction.
Unfortunately, the Project came to a halt when the California Endangered Species Act incidental
take permit (ITP) issued by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) mandated a
mitigation cost of $6,395,836.40, nearly 1.5 times the project cost, due to potential Santa Ana
River woolly-star and San Bernardino kangaroo rat impacts. As there was no time for appealing
the CDFW’s ruling requiring a mitigation of 4 times the amount of land area to project area, the
Project was unable to proceed. See Figure 4 for a funding timeline.
After a failed attempt to seek a solution within the confines of the existing timeline set by the
ATP grant, the City of Highland was forced to accept that they did not have the time or funding
to move forward with the Project. They had to forfeit their $3,636,000 Cycle 2 ATP award and
need to request a modification to the scope and funding distribution awarded in their
FY 2015/2016 TDA Article 3 application. The City of Highland is requesting the scope be
changed from construction to pre-construction as well as reallocation in the amount of $565,529
from the construction phase to the pre-construction phase.
At the heart of this Project is a crucial conduit for non-motorized transportation users needing to
navigate a nearly 2.5-mile expanse over the Santa Ana River with no alternate routes available
nearby. Since 2016, at least two (2) bicyclists and six (6) pedestrians have been struck by
vehicles along the Project route. See Map 1 for collision site locations. Sadly, two (2) of the
pedestrians, an 11-year-old girl and a 31-year-old man, died as a result. Because of this, SBCTA
staff is of the strong opinion that all possible efforts should be made to complete this Project.
Figure 4: Project Funding Timeline
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SBCTA, the City of Highland, and the City of Redlands staff recommend the following actions
be taken in order to move the Project forward:
1. Reallocate $565,529 from construction to pre-construction for the City of Highland’s
FY 2015/2016 TDA Article 3 (allocation S-1601-19) award.
2. Change the scope for City of Highland’s FY 2015/2016 TDA Article 3 (allocation
S-1601-19) award from construction to pre-construction.
3. Rescind the City of Redlands’ FY 2019/2020 award (allocation L20-0702-0746-00).
This additional funding was provided to assist with expected cost increases resulting from
environmental mitigations. City will not be addressing these issues in the ir revised Project.
No reimbursements have been issued for this award.
4. Split the Project into three (3) separate projects (see Figure 5 and Map 1):
a. North to be managed by the City of Highland
b. Gap to be assisted by SBCTA staff
c. South to be managed by the City of Redlands
5. Allocate Federal Carbon Reduction Program funding in the amount not-to-exceed $701,913,
with a local match of $150,287 (or 17.64% if the total comes in under budget), to the City of
Highland for the North Project.
6. Allocate Federal Carbon Reduction Program funding in the amount not-to-exceed $677,340,
with a local contribution of $75,260 (or 10% if the total comes in under budget), to the
City of Redlands for the South Project.
7. Authorize SBCTA to prepare the Gap Project for possible funding through the ATP Cycle 7
by reopening the ITP with CDFW and allocate $200,000 TDA Article 3 funds for the effort.
Both the City of Highland and the City of Redlands have agreed to SBCTA taking the lead
on the Gap Project.
Figure 5: Proposed Project Division
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Map 1: Project Area
Financial Impact:
This item is consistent with the Fiscal Year 2022/2023 Budget.
Reviewed By:
This item was reviewed and unanimously recommended for approval by the General Policy
Committee on February 8, 2023.
Responsible Staff:
Ginger Koblasz, Senior Planner
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