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sr-120809-1k (2)City Council Meeting: December 8, 2009 Agenda Item: To: Mayor and City Council From: Eileen P. Fogarty, Director, Planning & Community Development Subject: Contract with Fehr & Peers for Downtown/Civic Center Circulation Study Recommended Action Staff recommends that the City .Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an amendment to Contract No. 9103(CCS) with Fehr & Peers, for an additional $65,000, and a 10% contingency, to provide a detailed visual micro-simulation traffic operational analysis for the intersection of Colorado Avenue and 4th Street to the scope of work for the Civic Center/Downtown circulation analysis. The amendment will result in a total not-to-exceed contract amount of $146,000: Executive Summary The Exposition Light Rail (Expo LRT) station located at 4th. Street and Colorado Avenue in Downtown will increase pedestrian activity, modify traffic signal operations, and change the pattern of bicycle, transit and vehicular traffic in the area. While the future Expo LRT is an exciting opportunity for the City, it is critical that the additional circulation demands are proactively addressed. In August 2009, the City Council approved a contract in the amount of $81,000 with Fehr & Peers (F&P) to analyze a range of circulation alternatives to address the increased pedestrian presence at the Expo LRT terminus station and the need to preserve travel time for. transit on 4th Street. At that time, staff had anticipated that the Expo Construction Authority would provide more detailed information in the Fihal EIR, including simulation information that would complement the work being done by Fehr & Peers. However, that information was not able to be included in the Final EIR. In order to proceed with proactive planning, staff is recommending that F&P develop a detailed micro-simulation model including real-time video simulation to illustrate the effect of three to four combinations of roadway improvements in the Downtown/Civic Center area. The model will inform the decision-making process, illustrating to the community and the Council the effects of different combinations of solutions on eight key intersections in the vicinity of the proposed Expo LRT station in terms of easing congestion and facilitating circulation. Staff recommends that the City undertake this activity to enhance the comprehensive planning of circulation in connection with the RDA-funded projects. 1 The proposed contract amendment would add $65,000 for this additional scope of work, bringing the contract total to $146,000. With a 10% contingency, the additional funding in the amount of $71,500 is available in Civic Center Planning Accounts #C010820 ($41,579)and C170772.589000($29,921). Background At the March 24, 2009 City Council discussion on integrating planning for the Expo LRT terminus station with the Downtown/Civic Center area, circulation improvements to address pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and vehicular connections were identified as a priority. At a subsequent meeting on June 9, 2009, City Council recognized the need to proactively address circulation demands to serve the station and the Downtown/Civic Center area, and designated Redevelopment funds for "Expo Green Streets and Pathways" infrastructure improvements. The circulation analysis is a necessary next step in testing the feasibility and potential effectiveness of possible infrastructure and other circulation measures throughout the entire Downtown/Civic Center area. On August 11, 2009, the City Council approved a contract with F&P in the amount of $81,000, to analyze a range of circulation alternatives to address the increased pedestrian presence at the Expo LRT terminus station and the need to preserve travel time for transit on 4th Street. This work has been substantially completed, and the results have indicated that the proposed VISSIM micro-simulation is necessary for further testing the potential circulation options. For instance, the real-time video simulations would facilitate analysis of different combinations of vehicle turning movements, LRT traffic signal preemption, and traffic delays due to potential rail crossing gates at different peak times. The micro-simulation would also allow staff to test different cumulative scenarios, such as combined queuing information for 4th Street and the I-10 on- and off-ramps, which will also indicate the benefits of the proposed Fujinomiya Douri Drive extension bridge. Because micro-simulation is a necessary tool for understanding the effects of multiple traffic change combinations required by the arrival of the Expo LRT, and a valuable visualization tool for the community, City staff requested that the Expo Authority 2 undertake this analysis as part of their project EIR. Although this was not able to be done by the Authority, the information is still needed to support the City's planning efforts in the Civic Center/Downtown area. Discussion The micro-simulation will provide a real time video which will analyze a number of different options for improving the functioning of the street grid. The proposed task would- entail developing and calibrating a base year micro-simulation model using the VISSIM micro-simulation software program and then using the model to evaluate the following scenarios for both AM peak hour and PM .peak hour on a typical weekday: • 2030 LUCE09 scenario • 2030 LUCE09 scenario with the tiered approach for analyzing combinations of turning movements and lane configurations. VISSIM micro-simulation analysis is an extremely useful tool for demonstrating the effects of different transportation solutions on the surrounding streets. By adding this scope of work, Council's decision traffic pattern modifications can be better informed by a visual simulation that: • allows evaluation of the interaction on grid rather than by single intersections. • allows improved evaluation of interaction between vehicles, transit, and pedestrians in the vicinity of the station; • allows improved evaluation of LRT pre-emption effect on traffic conditions; and • provides video animation for improved understanding of the results. The proposed scope of work would cost $70;000, but the proposed modification takes into account $5,000 savings from the approved contract, so the additional funding necessary is $65,000. F&P will provide a technical memo summarizing the findings, intersection LOS, delay and queuing, plus video simulations that show real-time corridor traffic conditions (cars, pedestrians, buses and LRT), for the tiered approach. Staff is pursuing a contract amendment rather than a new contract with a different vendor as it would not be cost effective to change vendors in mid project. Fehr & Peers have extensive experience using the VISSIM micro-simulation software program, and can complete the work within the necessary timeframe. While it will be possible in the future 3 to utilize the services of additional vendors in conjunction with this model to do micro- simulation analysis, the staff recommendation will ensure that the preparation of this useful decision-making tool is timely and maintains the current schedule for providing information so that decisions may be made and implemented to meet the necessary interface with the EXPO Construction Authority schedule. Financial Impacts & Budget Actions Additional funding in the amount of $71,500 for the proposed contract amendment is available in Civic Center Planning Accounts #0010820 ($41,579) and 0170772.589000 ($29, 921). Prepared by: Elizabeth Bar-EI, AICP, Senior Planner Approved: Forwarded to Council: 4 Reference Amendment to Contract No. 9103 (ccs).