City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: OCTOBER 16, 2013
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: RASHAD M. YOUNG, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of a Resolution For a Competitive Grant Application to the Virginia Department of Transportation for FY 15 Revenue Sharing Program Funding. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
BODY
ISSUE: City Council consideration of a competitive grant application to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for Revenue Sharing Program FY 2015 funding in the amount of up to $1.875 million for resurfacing of major roads. The grant is a 1:1 matching grant subject to the availability of state funds; Alexandria's planned share is $1.875 million and the state match would be up to $1.875 million.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
- Adopt the attached resolution (Attachment 1) to apply for a FY 2015 Revenue Sharing Program funding allocation from the Virginia Department of Transportation for the Citywide street reconstruction and resurfacing of major roads, the grant application is due November 1, 2013; and
- Authorize the City Manager to submit this resolution and enter into any agreements with the state that may be required to receive these funds should the requested allocation be approved.
BACKGROUND: The City of Alexandria manages and maintains nearly 560 lane miles of paved streets to ensure the safe and efficient movement of people, goods and services. Beginning in FY 2014, the City shifted $1.375 million for major street reconstruction projects from the operating budget to the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). There were three main reasons for this move: (a) to use the multi-year plan to leverage other funding; (b) to distinguish major street resurfacing/reconstruction projects from routine maintenance such as patching, crack sealing or pothole repair which would remain in the operating budget; and (c) to coordinate CIP funds with development of an objective, multi-year plan for asset management of the City road network.
The VDOT Revenue Sharing Program, which provides an opportunity for the City to match local dollars on as much as a 1:1 basis with state funds, is the City's primary means of maximizing its investment into its pavement assets. The City's annual paving target has been approximately 56 lane miles however local funding levels have allowed the resurfacing of only approximately 20 lane miles annually. VDOT uses its Revenue Sharing program first to accelerate capital projects in the state's Six-Year Improvement Program or in a locality's capital plan and next to complete pavement resurfacing and bridge rehabilitation projects where a maintenance needs analysis determines that the infrastructure is below the locality's maintenance performance targets.
DISCUSSION: Previous City submissions for VDOT Revenue Sharing have been for specific street reconstruction projects. The shift of major street reconstruction from the City's operating budget to the CIP was intended, in part, to make it easier for the City to leverage outside funding sources such as Revenue Sharing.
In order to get a better measure of the actual condition of City streets, in 2013 and with Council provided funds, the Department of Transportation & Environmental Services completed a citywide pavement management inventory in which a condition assessment was performed on all 560 lane miles within the City. Using a scale from 100 for brand new pavement down to 1, the worst possible condition, the City updated its needs analysis for reconstruction and resurfacing. Each street section was assigned a pavement condition inventory (PCI) number based on criteria which include signs of base failure (i.e. surface distortion) or other distress such as presence of potholes or utility cuts, raveling, streaking, wash-boarding, shoving, etc. In the 2013 assessment, the City's average PCI was 58 with nearly 50 percent of street sections at or below PCI 60, which is defined as streets in fair to poor condition with pronounced and easily noticed deformation. Any streets at or below 60 on the City's PCI is be eligible for VDOT Revenue Sharing. Streets that score particularly low due to significant distress and base failure may require reconstruction and are eligible for higher priority funding.
In the current fiscal year and in the City's FY2015 (which begins July 1, 2014), staff is using local capital funds and prior year VDOT provided Revenue Sharing funds for reconstruction and resurfacing projects with PCI results as the basis for street resurfacing prioritization. Because VDOT FY 2015 Revenue Sharing funds, due to the VDOT grant cycle, will not become practically available to the City until after July 1, 2015, staff is proposing to schedule VDOT streets in the second-year of the City's multi-year street resurfacing plan. All of the streets proposed for repaving scored poor or very poor/serious on the PCI scale (i.e. 41 or less). The streets, which must be individually listed in the revenue sharing grant application package to VDOT and which are proposed for FY2016 repaving, include:
· Beauregard Street from the Fairfax County line to Mark Center Drive
· King Street from Quaker Lane to Tuckahoe Lane
· Monroe Avenue from Stonewall Road to Leslie Avenue
· Van Dorn Street from Edsall Road to South Pickett Street
· South Pickett St. from Valley Forge Drive to the Fairfax County Line
· East Windsor from Russell Road to Jefferson Davis Highway (Route 1)
· Princess Street from North Columbus Street to Cameron Street
· Yoakum Pkwy (end-to-end)
· North Hampton Drive from West Braddock Road to King Street
· Wheeler Avenue (end-to-end)
· North Gordon Street from Duke Street to dead end
· Eisenhower Avenue from Bluestone Road to Mill Road
· Mount Vernon Ave from Hume Ave to Braddock Road
· South Columbus Street from Green Street to Prince Street
This list is tentative and may change due to utility and/ or development conflicts, contract cost variance or other unforeseen conditions.
Thus, if approved, VDOT Revenue Sharing Program funding would be available to the City in the spring of 2015 in order to support completion of the FY2016 paving schedule which would begin after July 1, 2015. A preliminary application (Detailed Application for Funds) must be submitted to VDOT by November 1, 2013. If City Council approves the request, a Formal Council Resolution (Attachment 1) must be fully executed and submitted to VDOT by December 2, 2013.
FISCAL IMPACT: Due to the VDOT requirement to have local matching funds designated at the time of the grant submission, the application reflects a request for $1,875,000 in State revenues to match the City's proposed share of $1,875,000.
The existing FY2014-2023 CIP includes a planned amount of $1,875,000 in FY16 which, if continued as part of the FY2015-2024 CIP, would be dedicated to this project. If some or all of the City funding is not available in FY2016, an alternate matching source would need to be identified.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Resolution
Attachment 2: PowerPoint presentation
STAFF:
Mark Jinks, Deputy City Manager
Richard J. Baier, P.E., LEED AP, Director, Transportation and Environmental Services
Yon Lambert, AICP, Deputy Director/Operations, T&ES
Jerome Fletcher, Special Assistant to the City Manager
Antonio Baxter, Division Chief, T&ES
Jeffrey DuVal, Division Chief, T&ES
Chris Bever, Budget and Management Analyst III, OMB