REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL March 5, 2020 FROM: SCOTT L. MOZIER, PE, Director Public Works Department BY: RANDALL W. MORRISON, PE, Assistant Director Public Works Department, Engineering Division SUBJECT ..Title Actions pertaining to the Veterans Boulevard Grade Separation Project (Council District 2): 1. RESOLUTION - Adopting findings pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15091 and 15093 as required by CEQA Guidelines Section 15096 2. Approve First Amendment to Reimbursement Agreement No. HSR 16-57 with the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), to increase the agreement amount by $1,845,500 for a total of $29,845,500 3. ***RESOLUTION - 31st Amendment to the Annual Appropriation Resolution No. 2019-133 appropriating $1,534,500 for the Veterans Boulevard Grade Separation Project (Requires 5 affirmative votes) (Subject to Mayor's veto) 4. Approve an agreement for Construction Inspection Services with Ghirardelli Associates for $582,044.15 plus a $29,000.00 contingency 5. Award a Construction Contract in the amount of $20,038,376.39 to Granite Construction Company, of Fresno, California, as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder ..Body RECOMMENDATIONS Staff recommends that the City Council (1) adopt CEQA findings pursuant to Section 15096, (2) approve the HSR Agreement 16-57 Amendment, (3) adopt the attached 31st Amendment to the Annual Appropriation Resolution (AAR) No. 2019-133, (4) approve the consultant agreement with Ghirardelli and Associates for construction inspection services, and (5) award a construction contract to Granite Construction Company, of Fresno, California in the amount of $20,038,376.39 as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder for the Veterans Boulevard Grade Separation Project and authorize the Public Works Director or designee to execute the three contracts on behalf of the City. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The City of Fresno seeks to construct the Veterans Boulevard Grade Separation Project, which will include the extension of Veterans Boulevard from the Bullard Avenue and Veterans Boulevard intersection to the south with a grade separated structure carrying the roadway up and over the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) and future High Speed Rail (HSR). This construction contract is the second phase of the overall Veterans Boulevard Project. This phase is funded by the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) in connection with the Veterans Boulevard grade separation over UPRR and future HSR tracks, and the eventual closure of the Carnegie Avenue at-grade crossing. City staff has selected Ghirardelli and Associates through a qualification based selection to augment City staff on the construction inspection of the grade separation structure. BACKGROUND Veterans Boulevard, originally referred to as the Herndon-Grantland Diagonal, was originally part of the 1984 General Plan and is now a planned six-lane super arterial in the 2035 General Plan. In recent years, staff has completed the Project Study Report (PSR), Project Report and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and progressed the design of the various phases of Veterans Boulevard from Shaw Avenue to Herndon Avenue with the help of Fresno County Transportation Authority (FCTA) and Fresno Council of Governments (FCOG) with the funding for completing the final design and right-of-way acquisition. The stretch proposes a new partial cloverleaf interchange connecting State Route 99 and Veterans Boulevard. The new roadway will have six travel lanes, a Class I bicycle lane/pedestrian trail on one side and Class II bicycle lanes on both sides. The project will include three bridge structures, one to cross over State Route 99, one to cross over future Golden State Boulevard and one to cross over the existing UPRR tracks and the future HSR tracks. The EIR for the California HSR Project's Merced to Fresno segment included the selection of an at-grade alignment just west of the UPRR tracks through much of northwest Fresno including the area near Shaw Avenue, Carnegie Avenue and the Veterans Boulevard alignment. At locations such as Shaw Avenue, the HSR project proposes to construct a grade separation to carry Shaw Avenue over the UPRR and HSR tracks. This is also the case at other locations along the HSR corridor such as Herndon Avenue (underpass) to the north and further south at McKinley Avenue (overpass), Olive Avenue (overpass), Tulare Street (underpass), Ventura Avenue (underpass) and Church Avenue (overpass). Carnegie Avenue is a short street segment between Golden State Boulevard and Bullard Avenue which was deemed to be infeasible for a grade separation at that location, due to the close proximity of Golden State and Bullard Avenues. The high volume of traffic utilizing Carnegie Avenue made it also infeasible to close the crossing and re-route as far as Herndon and Shaw Avenues. The City Administration, City staff and CHSRA representatives developed a solution which is set forth in the EIR for the Merced to Fresno segment, of mitigating the Carnegie Avenue at-grade railroad crossing closure through constructing Veterans Boulevard between Golden State Boulevard and Bullard Avenue, including the Bullard Avenue extension from Carnegie to Bullard Avenues. City staff and CHSRA representatives have agreed it makes much more sense for the City to construct the Veterans Boulevard grade separation and Bullard Avenue extension given that it is part of the larger City project and will ensure compatibility with subsequent phases of Veterans Boulevard. The City Council approved the cooperative funding agreement for the Veterans Boulevard Project with CHSRA on November 17, 2016. The agreement allows for the City to construct the facility with the CHSRA to pay 100% of all construction costs including City bidding costs, construction management, inspection and testing. The proposed amendment adds funding to the agreement total to accommodate the increase in construction market costs from what was originally estimated when the agreement was initiated. The first phase of the Veterans Boulevard Project, the Bullard Extension package, which was also funded by the CHSRA, was opened to traffic on September 24, 2019. The Veterans Boulevard Grade Separation Project is the second phase of the overall project and the last phase needed to complete the HSR related work. The construction work of this package will result in two lanes of Veterans Boulevard; a bridge structure over the existing UPRR and future HSR tracks, and a roadway connection from Veterans Boulevard to future Golden State Boulevard. The overhead bridge structure will have two spans at a total length of 294.8 feet and a width of 132.7 feet. The structure is a cast-in-place prestressed concrete box girder, with all supports on 6 column bents on large diameter Cast-In-Drilled-Hole (CIDH) piles. Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) retaining walls behind the abutments will support the roadway embankment fills. In accordance with Administrative Order 6-19, staff sent out requests for Statements of Qualifications for a structures representative in August 2019 via email and published on the City's website. Three Statements of Qualifications were received and staff interviewed all three qualified respondents in September of 2019. Ghirardelli Associates, Inc., was determined to be the most qualified and submitted an acceptable proposal for the construction inspection services on the Veterans Boulevard Grade Separation Project. Staff is requesting the approval of the agreement with Ghirardelli Associates, Inc. of San Jose, CA for $582,044.15, with a contingency of $29,000.00, for construction inspection services on the Veterans Boulevard Grade Separation Project, and authorize the Public Works Director or designee to sign and execute the contract, approved as to form by the City Attorney's Office, on behalf of the City of Fresno. The Notice Inviting Bids was published in the Business Journal on October 25, 2019, posted on the City's website and was sent via fax to ten (10) building exchanges. The plans and specifications were distributed to ten (10) prospective bidders. Three (3) sealed bid proposals were received and opened in a public bid opening on December 17, 2019, with the bids ranging from $20,038,376.39 to $20,399,270.00. Granite Construction Company of Fresno, CA, with their bid of $20,038,376.39, was determined to be the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. The expiration date of the bids is March 6, 2020. If the bids are rejected or expire, the project must be rebid, which will result in a delay of approximately 90 days. Staff is recommending award of a construction contract to Granite Construction Company in the amount of $20,038,376.39, to construct the Veterans Boulevard Grade Separation Project and to authorize the Public Works Director or designee to sign and execute the standardized contract on behalf of the City of Fresno. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS The California Department of Transportation, as Lead Agency, prepared an EIR for the Veterans Boulevard/State Route Interchange Project/Veterans Boulevard Grade Separation Project, identified by SCH No. 2010021054 (the "Veterans Boulevard EIR"). The Veterans Boulevard EIR was certified on June 16, 2013 and analyzed several components of the Veterans Boulevard project, including but not limited to a new interchange at State Route 99 and Veterans Boulevard, grade separated crossings to connect Veterans Boulevard and Golden State Boulevard, the construction of Veterans Boulevard as a six-lane super arterials from West Shaw to Herndon Avenues, drainage basins, and landscaping. This approval is to implement the second phase of the overall project. An analysis has been performed pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 to determine whether subsequent environmental review is required for this project. Based upon this analysis the following findings are made to support the determination that no subsequent environmental review is required: 1. No substantial changes are proposed in the project which will require major revisions to the EIR due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects because the project is being implemented as planned. 2. No substantial changes occurred with respect to the circumstances under which the project was undertaken which will require major revisions to the EIR due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects. 3. There is no new information, which was not known and could not have been known at the time of the previous EIR showing that: a. The project will have one or more significant effects not discussed in the previous EIR; b. Significant effects previously examined will be substantially more severe than shown in the previous EIR; c. Mitigation measures or alternatives previously found to be not feasible are now feasible and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects of the project. Based upon these findings, it has been determined that a subsequent EIR is not required for this approval. Pursuant to the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Section 15096(h), the City adopts the findings attached as Exhibit A to the Resolution, as required by CEQA Guidelines 15091 and 15093. LOCAL PREFERENCE The local preference was not implemented based on funding requirements of the California High Speed Rail Cooperative Agreement which includes federal funds. FISCAL IMPACT The Veterans Boulevard Project, which is located in Council District 2, will have no impact on the General Fund. The overall Veterans Boulevard Project is being funded through CHSRA funding, various types of Measure "C" funding, Regional Transportation Mitigation Impact Fees (RTMF), State and Federal grant funds and City of Fresno Development Impact Fees. This contract falls under the Veterans Boulevard grade separation scope and is included in the cooperative funding agreement with CHSRA. The overall cost associated with the construction of this package is $24,746,068.98, of which $20,038,376.39 is for the construction contract and $582,044.15 is for the structural inspection contract. Adoption of the attached AAR amendment resolution will appropriate the necessary funding to award the two contracts and initiate construction in the current fiscal year. Additional appropriations for the remaining project costs will be included in the City's fiscal year 2021 budget. Attachment: Vicinity Map Resolution Adopting CEQA findings HSR Agreement 11-67 Amendment 31st Amendment to Annual Appropriations Resolution No. 2019-133 Ghirardelli Consultant Agreement Bid Evaluation Fiscal Impact Statement Standard Construction Contract