REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL December 8, 2016 FROM: SCOTT L. MOZIER, PE, Director Public Works Department BY: ROBERT N. ANDERSEN, PE, Assistant Director Public Works Department, Capital Management Division LAL GOONAWARDENA, PE, Design Services Manager Public Works Department, Capital Management Division SUBJECT ..Title Approve a Cooperative Agreement with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for the Installation of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) communication at various locations on State Route 41, 168, and 180 in the City of Fresno. (Council Districts 3, 4, 6 and 7) ..Body RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends the Council approve a Cooperative Agreement with Caltrans for the ITS communications and traffic signal synchronization equipment at various locations along the State Route 41, 168, and 180 corridors in the City of Fresno (City), and authorize the Public Works Director or his designee to sign the agreement on the City's behalf. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Currently, many of the City's arterial street corridors with synchronized traffic signals are crossing state routes with un-synchronized traffic signals at the on and off-ramps. These signals are owned and operated by Caltrans and impacting the efficiency of synchronization along the corridors. In 2013, the City was awarded Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) program funding through the Fresno Council of Governments, for an ITS Freeway Crossing project to remedy the lack of signal coordination through our freeway interchanges. During the grant selection process, Caltrans was very supportive of the proposal and agreed to partner with the City by providing matching funds for the project. BACKGROUND The City's Public Works Department has installed ITS in many street corridors throughout the City since the inception of the traffic signal synchronization program. Signals along key arterials such as Blackstone, Herndon, Clovis, Shaw, Chestnut, Willow, Kings Canyon and Friant are now synchronized using a fiber optic network to reduce congestion thus reducing emissions. Additionally, there are other east-west and north-south arterial streets synchronized using wireless ITS. All the synchronized traffic signals are monitored by staff based at the Traffic Operation Center (TOC). The City's synchronized arterial streets crossing State Route 41, 168 and 180 are impacted by the traffic signals at the on and off-ramp controlled by Caltrans, which function independently and are not synchronized with the City's system. In 2013, during the COG's Call for projects the City submitted a proposal to add the Caltrans ramp signals to synchronized corridors to improve the efficiency of the corridor. During the selection process, Caltrans was very supportive of the City's proposal and agreed to partner with the City by providing matching funds for the project. The City Attorney's Office has reviewed and approved the agreement as to form. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS The cooperative agreement is not a project pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378. LOCAL PREFERENCE Local preference was not considered based on the conditions of State funding and because the Cooperative Agreement with Caltrans does not include a bid or award of a construction services contract. FISCAL IMPACT The proposed project is funded with a CMAQ grant with matching funds from the California Department of Transportation and will have no impact on the General Fund. Attachment: Cooperative Agreement