Report Prepared by: Joe Cardoso, P.L.S., City Surveyor
Title
SUBJECT: Approval of Supplemental Agreement with Union Pacific Railroad in the not-to-Exceed Amount of $36,000 for Preliminary Engineering Services for the Installation of an Interconnect with a Traffic Signal at Highway 59 and the Railroad Spur, Project No. CP260040
REPORT IN BRIEF
Considers approving a supplemental agreement with Union Pacific Railroad for preliminary engineering services for the installation of an interconnect with a traffic signal at Highway 59 and 16th Street, in a not to exceed amount of $36,000.
RECOMMENDATION
City Council - Adopt a motion:
A. Approving a supplemental agreement with Union Pacific Railroad in a not to exceed amount of $36,000; and,
B. Authorizing the City Manager to sign the necessary documents.
Body
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve the request as recommended by staff; or,
2. Deny the request; or,
3. Approve, subject to modifications as conditioned by Council; or,
4. Refer back to staff for reconsideration of specific items (specific items to be addressed in City Council motion); or,
5. Continue to a future City Council meeting (date and time to be specified in City Council motion).
AUTHORITY
Charter of the City of Merced, Section 200.
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
Addresses Council’s priority of widening Highway 59.
DISCUSSION
The City of Merced has maintained a Capital Improvement Project for the installation of a new traffic signal and intersection improvements at Highway 59 (State Route 59) and 16th Street. A critical component of this project is the interconnect between the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) spur crossing and the proposed traffic signal. The UPRR rail corridor parallels 16th Street through much of the City.
The City received a CMAQ Grant for said traffic signal at this intersection and set up a project number (CP140052) for the grant. The intersection at Highway 59 and 16th Street was awarded as two CMAQ grants (CP140049 and CP140052). The CMAQ grants have since been finalized in the preliminary phase, and staff has combined the intersection project into one new project, CP260040.
The coordination between the City, UPRR, and Caltrans is governed by a sequential series of agreements, each corresponding to a distinct phase of the project. The preliminary engineering agreements was the first step in the multi-phase process. Due to staff changes in the City, UPRR and Caltrans, the approval of these agencies is near complete, and staff anticipates having approval from UPRR and Caltrans by the end of the year. This segment is a portion of the overall approval process as we work through getting the approvals from UPRR, Caltrans and the California Public Utility Commission via General Order 88.
Staff is requesting City Council to approve a supplemental agreement with Union Pacific Railroad in the not-to-exceed amount of $36,000 for preliminary engineering services for the installation of an interconnect with a traffic signal at Highway 59 and the Railroad Spur under Project No. CP260040, supplementing the original Agreement for Preliminary Engineering Services approved by the City Council on February 19, 2019, in the not-to-exceed amount of $50,000 under Project No. 114052 , (Attachment No. 1) to allow Union Pacific Railroad to continue providing preliminary engineering, cost estimate development, review of project layouts, and submission of current train and switching data at the Highway 59/16th Street crossing as required to advance the improvement project toward final design and construction.
IMPACT ON CITY RESOURCES
The budgets from CP140049 and CP140052 will be transferred to Project CP260040. Once that is posted, CP260040 will contain funding from RSTP, LTF, and Measure V Local, and will have sufficient funding for this request.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Executed Original Agreement with UPRR
2. Supplemental Agreement