HomeMy WebLinkAboutPW Francisco Boulevard East Sidewalk Improvements____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
Council Meeting: 02/18/2020
Disposition: Accepted report
Agenda Item No: 7.a
Meeting Date: February 18, 2020
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Department: Public Works
Prepared by: Bill Guerin,
Director of Public Works
City Manager Approval: __________
File No.: 16.01.241.01
TOPIC: FRANCISCO BOULEVARD EAST SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS
SUBJECT: INFORMATIONAL REPORT ON THE FRANCISCO BOULEVARD EAST
SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT
RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council accept the informational report.
BACKGROUND: Grand Avenue and Francisco Boulevard East form the primary corridor for
residents living in the Canal Neighborhood, the most densely populated area in Marin County, to
access the San Rafael Transit Center, SMART train station, Montecito Plaza, and San Rafael
High School. Local street connections between the Canal Neighborhood and the rest of the City
are severely limited by the constraints of the San Rafael Canal waterway, the existing Grand
Avenue Bridge, Highway 101, and Interstate 580.
The Francisco Boulevard East Sidewalk Improvements project (“Sidewalk Project”) is the final
phase of a multi-project, long-term vision that will fill a significant bicycle/pedestrian safety gap
within a major north-south corridor and will successfully link to other recently constructed
bicycle/pedestrian improvements, most notably the pedestrian bridge crossing the San Rafael
Canal installed in 2019. Upon completion of the Sidewalk Project, a seamless bicycle/pedestrian
facility from Downtown to the Canal Neighborhood will be realized and greatly improve safety
and connectivity in East San Rafael thus fulfilling a long-standing, high-priority project for the
San Rafael City Council.
Over the course of several years, City staff pursued construction funding for the Sidewalk
Project through various grant opportunities. In 2016, the City applied for a federal grant through
the Active Transportation Program (ATP) administered by Caltrans. The application was
favorably received, and subsequently the City was awarded $4,025,000 in construction funds.
To augment the ATP grant funding, City staff worked closely with the Transportation Authority of
Marin (TAM) and identified an additional $2,100,000 of federal funds thus bringing the
construction budget to $6,125,000. While a local match from the City was initially required to be
spent during the construction phase to fulfill commitments the City made as part of its grant
applications, we recently received approval that City funds previously spent during the design
and right of way phases of the project fulfill this local match requirement. As such, the City will
deliver the construction of the Sidewalk Project without committing additional local funds.
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2
In February 2020, staff will advertise this project to solicit contractor bids and return this spring
before the City Council to recommend an award of a construction contract as well as to award a
contract for full-time field inspection.
AN ALYSIS: The Sidewalk Project limits span almost ¾ of a mile along a busy roadway and
heavily utilized, but narrow, sidewalk. Staff have spent considerable time conceptualizing how a
contractor might approach building the project in a safe and expeditious way that minimizes
disruption to businesses and residents. While the City does not dictate the means and methods
by which a contractor executes a construction project, staff have placed parameters in our
specifications that the contractor must adhere to, including breaking up construction into
segments. These parameters, which will impact construction costs and timeline, include the
following:
• Night Work (Grand Avenue to Harbor Street) – there is no parallel alternative route in
this part of Francisco Blvd East so in order to have enough working space for large,
heavy equipment, while providing a temporary space in the roadway for pedestrian
usage, staff proposes the contractor build the sidewalk improvements at night between
the hours of 9 PM and 6 AM. The contractor would allow two-way traffic utilizing flag
persons on one lane on the roadway. Performing this type of traffic control during
daytime hours would exacerbate congestion in this already busy area.
• Day Work (Harbor Street to Vivian Way) – there is a parallel alternative route in this part
of East Francisco Blvd East so in order to reduce both construction costs and minimize
the noise associated with night work, staff proposes the contractor build the sidewalk
improvements in this section during daytime hours between 7 AM and 5 PM. To
accomplish this, a vehicular detour plan has been identified as shown in Attachment 1.
All southbound traffic (traffic from downtown heading to the Canal neighborhood), will
pass through the project limits unimpeded. However, northbound traffic will be detoured
onto Medway Road, Front Street, and Harbor Street before re-joining Francisco
Boulevard East. Pedestrians will not be detoured and will be granted a dedicated space
to use within the construction limits. Some on-street parking removal is anticipated to
allow large vehicle turning movements. Staff anticipates the temporary removal of up to
35 spaces along the detour route.
In addition to bisecting the Sidewalk Project into night and day work, staff will direct the
contractor to subdivide the work zone into smaller sections. Full removal of the existing sidewalk
for the length of the project corridor will not be permitted all at one time. Staff will require to the
contractor work within two City blocks as much as possible to remove the existing sidewalk and
replace it before moving on to the next block. It may be that more than one block is in active
construction while different contracting crews leap-frog each other performing their various
tasks, including landscaping, electrical, and drainage work.
PUBLIC OUTREACH: In August 2018, the City Council awarded a professional services
agreement to BKF Engineers to assist in bringing the Sidewalk Project to fruition. In January
2019, City staff worked with our consultant to generate public mailers to inform residents and
business owners of this project. Approximately 350 mailers were distributed directing interested
parties to review the City’s website for updated information on the project.
In August 2019, staff presented this project before the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory
Committee (BPAC) to inform them of the project timeline and give a status update on the
development of the design.
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 3
With construction approaching this summer, staff will again renew its public outreach to property
owners and businesses along Francisco Boulevard East by going door-to-door as we did in
summer of 2019. This personal face-to-face contact has been appreciated by impacted property
owners and allows them to ask questions pertaining to their specific situation. Furthermore, a
new series of mailers, both in English and Spanish, will be produced and mailed to many
properties near the project limits as well as key stakeholders, including Canal Alliance, the
Multicultural Center of Marin, and San Rafael High School.
Lastly, staff recently met with a working group to review the project and inform them of potential
impacts. Internally, group members included staff from fire, police, parking services, San Rafael
Sanitation District, and Digital Service and Open Government while external clients included
representatives from Marin Transit and Golden Gate Transit. Additionally, on January 22, 2020,
a test-run with a Golden Gate Transit bus was driven along the proposed one-way route on
Front Street to confirm the detour route will work for bus operators.
FISCAL IMPACT: This is an informational report which has no direct fiscal impact on the City.
When a construction contract is ready for award this spring, staff will return with this item before
the City Council for action.
OPTIONS:
1. Accept the informational report as presented.
2. Do not accept the informational report.
3. Direct staff to return with more information.
ATTACHMENT:
1. Map of the Project Limits
DAY-TIME WORK NIGHT-TIME WORK DETOUR (NORTHBOUND VIA FRONT STREET) VIVIAN ST MEDWAY RD HOAG AVE FRANCISCO BLVD. EAST FRONT ST DAY-TIME WORK NIGHT-TIME WORK DETOUR HARBOR ST ---