Placement: New Business
Action Requested: Motion / Vote
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City Council discussion and consensus on two elements of the Port St. Lucie Boulevard South Widening Project: 1) Revising the typical roadway section, and 2) A potential path to expedite the construction schedule.
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Submitted By: Clyde Cuffy, E.I., Project Manager
Strategic Plan Link: The City's Goal of high-quality infrastructure and facilities.
Executive Summary (General Business): Staff has received inquiries from members of the City Council about two elements of the Port St Lucie Boulevard South Widening Project: 1) the possibility of amending the Typical Roadway Section to one that is more pedestrian friendly along with other Complete Street elements, and 2) a potential path to expedite the construction schedule.
Presentation Information: Brief presentation by Clyde Cuffy and Jeff Snyder.
Staff Recommendation: Move that the Council provide consensus on: 1) Maintaining the existing or revising the Typical Roadway Section for the design of Port St. Lucie Boulevard from Becker Road to Darwin Boulevard, and 2) Expediting the construction schedule of Port St. Lucie Boulevard from Alcantarra Boulevard to Darwin Boulevard from FY 2023/24 to FY 2021/22.
Alternate Recommendations:
1. Move that the Council provide staff direction.
Background: In July 2010, City Council approved an Access Management Plan and Typical Section for Port St. Lucie Boulevard from Becker Road to Gatlin Boulevard. In June 2013, FDOT began the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Study. As part of the PD&E process, two Typical Section Alternatives were presented at two Public Information Meetings (PIMs). Alternative 1 duplicated the concepts approved by City Council in 2010, while Alternative 2 provided a bike lane in lieu of the 4-foot wide utility/grass strip. Based on public comment, Alternative 2 was selected as the preferred alternative and this was used by FDOT to design the corridor.
FDOT held a PIM in March 2019 to present the 90% roadway plans to the public. After this meeting, Staff received inquiries from members of City Council regarding the ability to alter the typical roadway section to one that is more pedestrian friendly and includes Complete Street elements. Additionally, members of City Council expressed their desire to provide relief to the residents who travel the congested roadway as well as provide much needed pedestrian improvements sooner than FDOT’s current construction schedule for FY 2023/24.
Issues/Analysis: To investigate City Council member inquiries about the Port St Lucie Boulevard South Widening Project, Staff met with the FDOT District 4 Secretary and his Staff to discusses the issues and identify options for the following.
1. Typical Roadway Section - FDOT Staff offered the following path to update and revise the roadway section.
a. The City and FDOT would prepare and execute a Funding Agreement for the City to provide FDOT with the funds to pay for the redesign. FDOT estimates that the redesign cost will be in the range of $750,000 to $800,000. The agreement is anticipated to take about six months to complete.
b. The City, FDOT, and the St Lucie Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) would conduct a Public Information Meeting (PIM) to present the existing and proposed roadway typical sections to the public. FDOT will gather comments from the public and develop a typical section that meets the needs of the public, City, and current design standards. The selected roadway section will be used to complete the design for the corridor extending from Darwin Boulevard to Becker Road. The PIM process and determination of a typical section is anticipated to take about three months.
c. The redesign will take approximately one year to complete.
d. The total time for developing the Funding Agreement, conducting the PIM, and completing the redesign is 18 to 24 months. If the process is started in July 2019, the redesign would be completed by July 2021.
e. Construction could be expedited as explained below or occur in FY 2023/24 per the current FDOT schedule.
2. Expedited Construction - FDOT Staff advised that reimbursement of programmed funding for a project is possible in accordance with the Local Government Advance/Reimbursement Program. Currently, the FDOT Five Year Work Program only shows programmed funding for the construction of Alcantarra Boulevard to Darwin Boulevard, Segment 2.1, in FY 2023/24. FDOT advised that expedited construction of this segment could be accomplished by a Reimbursement Funding Agreement.
The agreement would allow the City to provide FDOT with the total cost of construction, estimated and programmed as $8.5M, prior to advertisement of the construction. With the redesign, FDOT would begin construction of Segment 2.1 in July 2022 (estimated) and then the City would be reimbursed for the programmed amount in July 2023. Should construction costs exceed the programmed funding, the City would be responsible for covering the additional costs without reimbursement.
Although a defined path to expedite construction of the next two segments of the corridor is not feasible at this time, Staff believes that several important building blocks are being established. Staff has applied for a Transportation Regional Incentive Program (TRIP) Grant and County Incentive Grant Program (CIGP) Grant for the construction of the segment from Paar Drive to Alcantarra Boulevard, Segment 2.2, for FY 2023/24. These potential grants, additional funding allocated by FDOT, as well as the return of the reimbursement funding in July 2023, will provide a good start to expediting the construction of Segment 2.2. Likewise, a similar situation is possible for the segment from Becker Road to Paar Boulevard, which is scheduled to begin design in May 2020.
Financial Information:
1) Revised Typical Section: FDOT indicated that, based on information from their design consultant, the estimated total cost of redesign is $750,000 to $800,000 and these funds along with a Funding Agreement will need to be in place prior to FDOT proceeding with the redesign. The funds for the redesign will be from the City’s General Fund Undesignated Reserves. The cost of the redesign is not eligible for reimbursement.
2) Expedited Construction: A Reimbursement Funding Agreement between FDOT and the City will be prepared and executed. This agreement will stipulate that the City provides FDOT with the funds to complete the construction of the widening project from Alcantarra Boulevard to Darwin Boulevard, estimated to be $8.5M prior to advertising for construction. Additionally, FDOT will construct the project and then reimburse $8.5M to the City in July 2023. The estimated cost to carry the $8.5M advancement for two years is $452,383.81. The funds will be from the City’s General Fund Undesignated Reserves.
Special Consideration:
• FDOT has put their design consultant for Port St Lucie Boulevard South on hold until a resolution is reached on the roadway typical section.
• The design of the northern portion of Port St Lucie Boulevard from Gatlin Boulevard to Darwin Boulevard will be put on hold until the typical roadway section is finalized to minimize redesign of the connection point near Darwin Boulevard. The northern section of the corridor is currently under design, 85% complete, by the City’s design consultant. The scheduled design completion was July 2019. Construction is partially funded by a FDOT TRIP Grant and is currently scheduled to begin in March 2021. The design schedule for this project could be extended to November 2019 to accommodate a revised typical section, without impacting the scheduled construction date.
Location of Project: Port St. Lucie Boulevard from Becker Road to Darwin Boulevard.
Attachments: Location Map, PowerPoint Presentation
NOTE: All of the listed items in the “Attachment” section above are in the custody of the City Clerk. Any item(s) not provided in City Council packets are available upon request from the City Clerk.
Legal Sufficiency Review:
Approved as to Legal form and sufficiency by James D. Stokes, City Attorney. (Reference Legistar database for authorizing City Attorney representative.)