I. RECOMMENDATION:
Authorization to Cancel Contract with TJKM Consultants and Proceed with Multi-Jurisdictional Local Roadway Safety Plan with Fresno COG and further authorize the Assistant City Manager to send an email to Caltrans authorizing the transfer of grant funds from the City to the COG.
II. BACKGROUND:
Federal regulations require each State has a Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). An SHSP is a statewide data-driven traffic safety plan that coordinates the efforts of a wide range of organizations to reduce traffic accident fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads. In coordination with federal, state, local and private sector safety stakeholders, the SHSP establishes goals, objectives, and emphasis (or challenge) areas. The SHSP address the 4Es of traffic safety: Engineering, Enforcement, Education, and Emergency Services.
While the SHSP is used as a statewide approach for improving roadway safety, A Local Road Safety Plan (LRSP) can be a means for providing local and rural road owners with an opportunity to address unique highway safety needs in their jurisdictions while contributing to the success of the SHSP. The process of preparing an LRSP creates a framework to systematically identify and analyze safety problems and recommend safety improvements. Preparing an LRSP facilitates the development of local agency partnerships and collaboration, resulting in a prioritized list of improvements and actions that can demonstrate a defined need and contribute to the statewide plan. The LRSP offers a proactive approach to addressing safety needs and demonstrates agency responsiveness to safety challenges.
An LRSP provides a framework for organizing stakeholders to identify, analyze, and prioritize roadway safety improvements on local and rural roads. The process of developing an LRSP can be tailored to local protocols, needs, and issues.
III. DISCUSSION:
On December 3, 2020, the Council authorized staff to enter into an agreement with TJKM to prepare a local roadway safety plan with grant funds provided by the state. It was discovered shortly after that the City would be able to enter into an agreement with Fresno COG as part of their Multi-Jurisdictional Local Roadway Safety Plan. This would accomplish the same outcome as the original agreement with TJKM, however allows staff to assume a stakeholder role rather than the role of project coordinator. Effectively freeing up staff time to pursue other efforts. In addition, the City's local contribution will be significantly lower than if the City undertook the project on its own.
In order to do so, we must cancel our agreement with TJKM, which no contract has been formally executed, and authorize the allocation of our grant funds to COG by sending an email to Caltrans.
IV. ALTERNATIVES:
Continue to enter into an agreement with TJKM.
V. FISCAL IMPACT:
Continuing to enter into an agreement with TJKM would require the City to allocate $7,000 of local street funds to cover the grant match. Entering into a multi-jurisdictional agreement with Fresno COG, would have a smaller (approx. $2,000) cost to the City which will be paid from local streets and roads funds. |