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Art3_Highland_FY15_BikePed_Connector_SummaryHighland/Redlands Regional Connector Summary of Project History Executive Summary: The Highland/Redlands Regional Connector project (Project) is a regionally significant active transportation project that proposes to construct a collection of bike lanes with the primary focus on constructing a Class I bike lane that crosses over the Santa Ana River to connect the two cities via Orange Street. Currently, there is no safe alternative for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the Santa Ana River despite the fact that Citrus Valley High School is located in the City of Redlands on the south side of the River, yet the district serving the school includes residents on the north side of the River in the City of Highland. The lack of a safe pedestrian passage between the two cities in this vicinity discourages those who have transportation mode options from choosing to walk/bike and creates a serious predicament for residents whose only form of travel is via non-motorized means. Due to the importance of rectifying this problem, along with the Project’s consistency with the State’s vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals, the Project gained significant public support and scored highly when applying for competitive grant funding. The Project was awarded approximately $3.6 million from the California Transportation Commission’s Cycle 2 Active Transportation Program (ATP) and a total of approximately $860,000 from San Bernardino County Transportation Authority’s (SBCTA) Transportation Development Act (TDA) Article 3 program. Unfortunately, the roughly $4.5 million Project came to a halt during the design phase when the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) mandated mitigation costs of about $6.4 million due to potential kangaroo rat and wooly star impacts. Unable to come up with additional funding that amounted to more than the cost of the project itself within the ATP timeline constraints, and with no recourse for challenging the ruling, the City of Highland was forced to forfeit the ATP funding and go back to the drawing board. In an attempt to ensure the Project gets completed, SBCTA staff worked with Highland and Redlands staff to propose a plan that would split the Project into three separate projects. This would allow the cities to move forward with sections of the project that do not have environmental impacts while SBCTA staff focuses on finding a solution for the key section with environmental impacts that crosses over the Santa Ana River. Project Description (see map at end): This Project was originally a 4.7-mile collection of Class I, II, and IV bike lanes that connected the two cities and nearby areas along Orange Street. However, as a result of work completed during the design phase, the Project has since been modified with the cumulative effect being the addition of .55 miles of bike lanes to the project scope. In Redlands, the City opted to construct a Class I on Domestic Road instead of Pioneer Avenue. In Highland, a Class III will be constructed instead of a Class I path connecting Orange Street to Glenheather Drive as the City is unable to construct a Class I originally planned her due to right-of-way issues. Additional modifications include changing the section on Orange Street between the future Pole Line Trail north to Greenspot Road from Class II to Class I and adding a Class II bike path running parallel to the proposed Class I along Orange Street between the future Pole Line Trail and the Highland/Redlands City boundary. Project Benefits: Safety: According to UC Berkeley’s Transportation Injury Mapping System, there were eight (8) collisions involving bicyclists and/or pedestrians that resulted in injury or death along the Project routes between 2016 and 2021. Sadly, two (2) of these collisions resulted in pedestrian fatalities. One victim was an 11-year-old girl and a 31-year-old man. While the addition of these bike lanes cannot guarantee the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians, they will at least provide some space between them and vehicles where Class I, II, and IV lanes are proposed. Connectivity: The Project will provide non-motorized access for Citrus Valley High School students both living nearby who will be able to access the school via a Class I route along Domestic Road and students who live on the north side of the River in the City of Highland. The Project will also provide a connection to Omnitrans Bus Route 15 and several other trails located within Redlands and Highland, including the Santa Ana River Trail. In doing so, the Project will provide a broad connective matrix of sidewalks, trails, and bike lanes with public transportation, thereby providing a more sustainable, healthier alternative choice of transportation for commuters in Redlands and Highland. Environment: This project fully supports and is consistent with local and State’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses (GHG) and vehicle miles (VMT) traveled by increasing efforts to create viable alternative modes of transportation. Below are few examples initiatives that this Project is in alliance with: Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI) was adopted by the California state Transportation Agency (CalSTA) in 2021. According to the CalSTA website, “The plan details how the State recommends investing billions of discretionary transportation dollars annually to aggressively combat and adapt to climate change while supporting public health, safety and equity. CAPTI builds on executive orders signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019 and 2020 targeted at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in transportation, which account for more than 40 percent of all emissions, to reach the state's ambitious climate goals.” It explicitly states in the opening message from David S. Kim, the Agency Secretary, that “These actions include ongoing initiatives as well as new efforts to modernize transportation planning, programming, and mitigation to achieve the state’s climate goals. This includes promoting walking, biking, transit, and other modes of active transportation that improve the health of Californians and reduce our dependence on driving and the overall number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT)”. Senate Bill (SB) 743: was signed into law in 2013 with the intent to getter align California Environmental Quality act (CEQA) practices with statewide sustainability goals related to efficient land use, greater multimodal choices, and GHG reduction. Starting in July 2020, SB 743 eliminated the Level of Service metric for identifying transportation impacts and replaced it with VMT reductions. Active transportation is the first measure identified in the California Transportation Department’s SB 743 Program Mitigation Playbook (draft 2022) that can be developed because it satisfies CEQA requirements. Redlands committed to becoming a “green city” in 2008 when it adopted Resolution No. 6696 (April 2008). This resolution resolved that the City would become a Green Valley Jurisdiction and participate in the development and implementation of sustainable model policies and programs to benefit the Inland Empire. As part of the implementation of sustainable green policies, the City prioritized the promotion of alternative green forms of transportation to travel within the City. These alternative forms of transportation include the promotion of walking to and from work and school through the construction of sidewalks and bicycle lanes. Upper Santa Ana River Wash Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) The environmentally sensitive portion of the Project is located within the HCP plan area and is identified as a Covered Activity under the HPC. The HCP is intended to balance various project activities with natural community and species conservation. Additional information about the HCP can be found at: San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District - The Upper Santa Ana River Wash Habitat Conservation Plan (sbvwcd.org). The Project is described in HCP by jurisdiction as follows: Orange Street/Boulder Avenue Improvements (High.02) Within the Cities of Highland and Redlands, Boulder Avenue/Orange Street from Greenspot Road to the south limit of the Plan Area will be widened along both sides to include four travel lanes, one center lane, and two bike lanes. It will be improved with standard street improvements such as curb, gutter, sidewalk, landscaped parkway, roadway drainage, and street lights. The road widening within Highland will result in up to 3.9 acres of permanent and 5.5 acres of temporary impacts. Orange Street Improvements (Redl.15) Within Redlands beginning at Riverview Drive, Orange Street will be widened and improved to the Highland city limits. It will be widened along both sides to include four travel lanes, one center lane, and two bike lanes. It will be improved with standard street improvements such as curb, gutter, sidewalk, landscaped parkway, roadway drainage, and street lights. The road widening within Redlands will result in up to 5.0 acres of permanent impacts and 7.3 acres of temporary impacts. This Plan is still under review and awaiting the issuance of the take permit. California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Finding: The Incidental Take Permit (ITP) issued by CDFW in June 2020 indicated that the Project is expected to result in the incidental take of the Santa Ana River woollystar (endangered) and kangaroo rat (candidate for the threatened or endangered species list). It claims that the Project will cause the loss of 12.06 acres of suitable habitat. (Note: further research is needed to determine how the 12.06 acres was determined given the Project’s permanent take is estimated to be up to 8.9 acres according to the HCP quoted above.) Among the litany of requirements outlined in the ITP, the CDFW determined that “…the Permittee shall either purchase 31.3 acres of Covered Species credits from a CDFW-approved mitigation or conservation bank OR shall provide for both the permanent protection and management of 31.3 acres of Habitat Management (HM) lands…” In other words, the Project needs to protect 3.5 times more land that it will be impacting (31.3 acres protected for an 8.9 acre project). The CDFW cost estimates for this and other required mitigations totaled $6,395,836.40. Land acquisition: $135,000 per acre for 31.3 acres = $4,225,500 Start-up costs for HM lands: $434,100 Interim management period funding: $648,803 Long-term management funding: $23,236 per acre for 31.3 acres = $727,286.80 Restoration of on-site temporary effects: $62,309.10 per acre for 5.78 acres = $360,146.60 Funding History: In 2016, the California Transportation Commission awarded the City of Highland approximately $3.6 million Cycle 2 Active Transportation Program (ATP) funding to complete a collaborative project with the City of Redlands In addition to the ATP funding, the SBCTA Board also awarded the Project almost $703,000 in Transportation Development Act (TDA) Article 3 funding to be used as part of the local match requirement. In FY19/20, the SBCTA Board awarded additional TDA Article 3 in the amount of almost $158,000 to the City of Redlands to assist with “cost overruns…experienced 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 have been required, which has caused a rise in the budget and the need for additional grant funding.” Proposed Resolution: In an attempt to ensure this project gets completed, SBCTA staff work with Highland and Redlands staff to develop this list of recommendations geared towards wrapping up loose ends of the original awards and proceeding with the project using phased approach. On February 8, 2023, staff recommended that the General Policy Committee recommend the Board approve the following actions when they meet next on March 1, 2023: Reallocate $565,529 (five-hundred sixty-five thousand five hundred and twenty-nine) dollars of the FY15/16 TDA Article 3 award from construction to pre-construction Approve a scope change for the FY15/16 TDA Article 3 award from construction to pre-construction. These steps are needed now that ATP will no longer be covering any portion of the project. Rescind the additional TDA Article 3 funding in the amount of $157,934 (one hundred fifty-seven thousand nine hundred and thirty-four dollars) that was awarded to the City of Redlands in FY19/20. Divide the project into three separate projects: North, Gap, and South. Authorize SBCTA staff to prepare the Gap project for possible funding through the Cycle 7 Active Transportation Project funding cycle by reopening the Incidental Take Permit with CDFW by allocating $200,000 TDA Article 3 funds for the effort. Allocate federal Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) funding in an amount not-to-exceed of $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. Allocate CRP funding in an amount not-to-exceed of $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.