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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTrans 2013-04-23 Item 2A - Briefing - Allentown Area Relating to Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) RailroadTO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: City of Tukwila Jim Haggerton, Mayor MEMORANDUM Transportation Committee Kimberly Matej, Government Relations Manager April 16, 2013 Preparation of Scope of Work Relating to Allentown and the BNSF Intermodal Facility — Information Only Committee Chair Kruller has requested that as information only, the Transportation Committee receive a briefing on the item below which was discussed and approved by the Community Affairs & Parks on Monday, April 8. Additionally, a copy of the Meeting Report Summary from the BNSF Intermodal Hub Yard Task Force dated April 10, 2000, prepared by Cooper Consulting Company has been provided for Committee reference. Previous Memo submitted and presented to the Community Affairs & Parks Committee on 04/8/13 ISSUE For several years, the City has been working with the Allentown community on issues regarding the impacts of Burlington Northern Santa Fe's (BNSF) South Seattle Intermodal Facility located in the neighborhood. After meetings with representatives from the City's Congressional delegation, local community members, and BNSF representatives, staff is recommending and seeking Committee approval to move forward with creating a scope of work to be utilized in identifying a consultant who can conduct and present a data-driven report of findings quantifying the effects of the Intermodal Facility onto the Allentown community. BACKGROUND The BNSF South Seattle Intermodal Facility located in Allentown became fully operational in 1970. In 1989, the Allentown neighborhood was annexed by the City of Tukwila. This annexation finally provided this previously unincorporated area a voice within a full-service city. In January 2000, an ad- hoc committee (Burlington Northern Intermodal Task Force) was established to consider alternative truck access routes into the Intermodal Facility. The Task Force recommended four alternative routes for consideration, and presented a Meeting Report Summary, which Copper Consulting Company prepared on April 10, 2000. More recently, over the past few years, the City has met and corresponded with BNSF representatives in an effort to build a foundation for sustainable and cooperative relationships between the Intermodal Facility and its residential neighbors. Efforts to address concerns have included discussions, meetings and correspondence with community representatives, BNSF representatives and Federal legislators. DISCUSSION Pending Committee approval, City staff will continue to work with the community to ensure that a scope of work represents a fair assessment of concerns that can be further assessed through consultant research. The scope of work will also include a task requesting identification of possible mitigation in response to documented effects. Staff has inquired if BNSF would be interested in sharing the cost of a consultant, as well as participating in consultant selection. This invitation has been extended in a continued effort between the City and BNSF to work in a collaborative manner to address community concerns regarding quality of life issues that have been expressed by Allentown residents as a result of the Intermodal Facility location. 1 Information Only: BNSF Scope of Work page 2 Funding was not identified in the 2013-2014 Biennial Budget to address this issue; therefore, funding for a consultant will require a year-end budget adjustment. Based on the length of time that this has been a community conoern, as well as Council's interest in addressing these concerns, staff recommends Council consider a year-end adjustment aliowing staff the opportunity to identify funding for a consultant. Initial estimates suggest that a consultant would cost between $50,000 — $80,000. RECOMMENDATION. Staff has recommended to Mayor Haggerton, and he concurs that it is in the best interest of the City and the residents of Allentown to move forward with creating a scope of work in order to identify impacts of and potential mitigation opportunities relating to the BNSF Intermodal Facility. 2 75 MEETING REPORT SUMMARY of the BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA RAILROAD INTERMODAL HUB YARD TASK FORCE for the CITY OF TUKWILA Presented to: Mr. James F. Morrow, Director City of Tukwila, Washington Department of Public Works Tukwila City Hall 6200 Southcenter Blvd Tukwila, Washington 98199 Prepared by: Hal B. H. Cooper, Jr. Consulting Engineer Cooper Consulting Company 11715 N.E. 145th Street Kirkland, Washington 98034 April 10, 2000 3 SUMMARY A detailed evaluation has been conducted of the available alternative solutions for improving the heavy truck access for improving the heavy truck access into the BNSF Railroad South Seattle intermodal yard hub center in the Allentown area of the City of Tukwila. An ad -hoc task force was established by the Mayor of the City of Tukwila whose charge was to identify, evaluate, prioritize and recommend possible solutions to improving the truck access into the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard so as to reduce adverse community impacts. The criteria for identifying, evaluating and recommending possible solutions were that they be technically feasible, financially affordable, have a reasonable implementation timeframe, and be politically acceptable. The Burlington Northern Task Force held a series of meetings to review the available information regarding alternative truck access routes into the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard. The greatest challenge the Task Force faced was to develop and recommend one or more possible solutions for truck access into the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard. The goal of developing these possible solutions would be to alleviate or eliminate the present adverse community impacts associated with large scale movements of 600 to 800 heavy trucks per day along South 124th Street in the Allentown area of Tukwila. These large -scale truck movements along South 124th Street are through a residential neighborhood of modest homes close to a street, which was never designed nor intended to be used by large numbers of heavy trucks on a regular basis. The Burlington Northern Task Force identified 8 possible alternative routing solutions for alleviating the problems associated with adverse community impacts resulting from large scale truck movements through the Allentown area of Tukwila. These 8 alternative truck route configurations to and from the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard were as follows. improve the existing South 124`h Street rout build a new route along 56th Avenue South build a new route along 48th Avenue South 4 build a new route along either Gateway Drive Sout build a new route along Gateway Drive North b develop a new route along South 115`h Str _ develop a new route along East Marginal Way and South 112th Stree 8 build a new access route along Airport Way South into the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard. Talternative entry options for future truck access into the BNSF Railroad South Seattle intermodal yard in the Allentown area of the City of Tukwila is illustrated in Figure A. These 8 individual alternative routing solutions were developed with the twin objectives of providing efficient truck access and minimizing adverse community and minimizing adverse community impacts. The specific issues for which the 8 individual alternative route solutions were to be evaluated included residential impacts, business income impacts, employment impacts, environmental impacts, intersection impacts, traffic impacts, noise impacts, safety impacts, and land acquisition needs. A summary of the evaluation matrix developed by the Burlington Northern Task Force of the City of Tukwila is presented in Table A. The estimated capital costs of each alternative routing solution were to be identified and broken down in terms of land purchase costs, property displacement costs, construction costs, indirect costs, and costs to private sector businesses, especially for the BNSF Railroad. The identification of private sector costs was of particular importance because most Federal and State grants available preclude the use of public funds for the benefit of private property. 4 Figure A' ALTERNATIVE TRUCK ACCESS ROUTES INTO THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE ALLENTOWN AREA OF TUKWILA BY THE AUTHOR Scale of. Distance in Feet RAILROAD INTERMODAL YARD IN THE 1 1 000 2,100 00 5, 100 Duwamis River SR 599 Freeway SEATTLE 1, TUKWILA Airport Wa Sout lai SEATTLE 5 107 5l 5 11] 51 M101 NI 5 116 5l $ Wallace 51 Inte 5 F# e ALL NTO 5 122 51 S 124 51 BO ;South 124th Street 5 126 51 5 128 S1 TUKWILA 5 Table A RESULTS OF THE COMPARATIVE ALTERNATIVE OPTION RANKING PROCESS BY THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN TASK FORCE MEMBERS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL TRUCK ROUTES INTO THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE RAILROAD SOUTH SEATTLE INTERMODAL YARD HUB CENTER IN THE ALLENTOWN AREA OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA Evaluation Criteria BNSF TASK FORCE OPTIONS EVALUATION Options Specific Impact Do Nothing 48th Ave S. Gateway Drive Gateway Drive (B) I. Marginal Way (S 112th St) Airport Way Access S I 15th St. 56th Ave S. Improve 124th Environmental Impact n.a. Red Red Red Yellow Yellow Yellow Red Red Residential Impacts Red Green Red Yellow Green Green Red Red Red Project Costs: Facility Costs 0 $8.9 Mill. $l1.3 Mill $112 Mill$20.0 Mill.$12.2 M $18.6 Mil $14.3 Mil $6.4 Mill BNSF Costs 0 0 0 0 $3.5 Mill$3.5 M $3.5 Mil 0 0 Land Acquisition No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Loss of Business Income No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No No Job Impnts Green Red Yellow Yellow Yellow Green Green Green Green ImpdsatIntemntim Yellow Red Yellow Yellow Yellow Green Red Red Red Noise Impacts Red Red Red Red Yellow Yellow Red Red Red Safety Impacts Red Red Yellow Yellow Green Yellow Red Red Red Traffic Patterns in the City Red Red Yellow Yellow Yellow Yellow Red Red Red Legal Issues Impacts to BNSF Yard Ops Cree _-_ ii, - - • - : • : - • - . - • - - . Project Duration No Project Fmldhlg n.a . Green Red Red • - • R. Red r, - • G Rn 4 The extensive evaluation by the Burlington Northern Task Force led to the recommendation of four possible alternative route solutions of constructing new routes along Airport Way South, East Marginal Way South with South 112th Street and Gateway Drive South, and improving the South 124th Street entry. The estimated capital costs of the four alternative solutions ranged between $6,450,000 (South 124th Street) and $23,500,000 (East Marginal Way South). The highest ranked alternative was the Airport Way South route, which was the second highest cost option because of its minimal adverse impacts. The lowest ranked alternative was the South 124th Street improvements at $6,450,000 because of its continued use of a residential street. The other four alternatives were all eliminated from further consideration, primarily because of perceived excessive adverse community impacts. A summary of these comparative rankings for the alternative truck access routes, into the BNSF intermodal yard, as listed in Table B. The author made a separate analysis of the potential alternative solutions for improving truck access into the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard. This analysis identified 12 alternative route solutions for improving truck access into the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard. These 12 alternative solutions included the 8 options identified by the Burlington Northern Task Force plus the Boeing Access Road at the north and along Interurban Avenue South between Gateway Drive and 48" Avenue at the south. In addition, the author identified two alternative routes to the east to connect with Martin Luther King Way South and the Interstate 5 freeway, which were not a part of the other analyses. The comparative capital costs for all of these alternative solutions by source for alternative truck access routes, as presented in Table C. The analysis conducted by the author also recommended four route options of which three were the same as by the Burlington Northern Task Force. These recommended alternative routes were along Airport Way South and East Marginal Way South at the north end plus Gateway Drive South at the south end. The fourth alternative route recommendation was different than by the Burlington Northern Task Force in that the lowest capital cost but maximum community impact improvement of the South 124th Street route was eliminated because trucks would still go through the Allentown residential neighborhood to the BNSF intermodal yard. In the place of the South 124th Street option was recommended a combined eastern route access over the BNSF and Union Pacific Railroad tracks to connect with the Interstate 5 freeway and Martin Luther King Way South, as illustrated in Figure B. This alternative route could be considered as a rail-road grade separation which could make its eligible for FAST Corridor grade separation project funding or under the TEA-21 Act funding programs. There would then only need to be a 20 to 25 percent private funding requirement for the BNSF Railroad as this project can then be considered as a freight mobility enhancement. In addition, it is possible that the planned Sound Transit Central Link light rail transit alignment through Segment E in Tukwila could go along the Interstate 5 freeway in coordination with the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard roadway entry and exit ramps. The estimated capital costs of the recommended alternatives by the author ranged between $11.85 million and $25.75 million in the medium cost range and between $16.90 and $32.25 million for the maximum cost range, as listed in Table D. Those recommended alternative solutions which involved a north end access to the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard all had higher estimated capital costs because they required a complete reorientation of the existing yard configuration as well as a bypass road around its western end. The advantages of the north end entry options into the 7 TABLE B COMPARATIVE RANKINGS OF RECOMMENDED ALTERNATIVE ROUTING SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVING TRUCK ACCESS INTO THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE RAILROAD SOUTH SEATTLE INTERMODAL YARD HUB CENTER IN THE ALLENTOWN AREA OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA Recommending Source Priority Ranking Solution Number Alternative Description Capital Cost $ Author Evaluation 1 2 Airport Way South 24,250,000 2 2 East Marginal Way South 112th Street 25,750,000 3 9 Gateway Drive South 11,850,000 4 7 Interstate 5 Freeway Martin Luther King Way 24,750,000 Burlington Northern Task Force - Tukwila 1 1 Airport Way South 15,700,000 2 2 East Margirnal Way South 112 Street 23,500,000 3 6 Gateway Drive South (A) 11,170,000 4 4 South 124'" Street 6,450,000 8 6 TABLE C COMPARATIVE ESTIMATES OF CAPITAL COSTS FOR THE PROPOSED ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVING TRUCK ACCESS INTO THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE RAILROAD INTERMODAL YARD HUB CENTER TERMINAL IN THE ALLENTOWN AREA OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA Solution Number Alternative Description Harding Lawson Associates Hanon & Wilson Consultants City of Tukwila Estimates Cooper Revised Estimates 1 Airport Way South - 16,675,727 15,700,000 32,270,000 2 Boeing Access Road - 18,400,639 - 33,000,000 3 East Marginal Way 8,987,691 20,639,554 23,500,000 31,860,000 4 South 115`" Street - - 22,155,000 41,280,000 5 South 124`" Street - - 6,450,000 15,900,000 6 Martin Luther King Way - - - 36,190,000 7 Interstate 5 Freeway - - - 26,795,000 8 Gateway Drive North - 8,752,457 11,255,000 23,310,000 9 Gateway Drive South 6,785,981 7,275,067 11,170,000 16,880,000 10 Interurban Avenue South - - - 22,330,000 11 48th Avenue South 2,838,608 - 8,925,000 24,750,000 12 56`" Avenue South - - 14,330,000 27,105,000 Average Capital Cost 14,348,689 14,185,625 27,721,667 Dollar Reporting Basis 1998 1997 1999 2000 9 Figure B 7 PROPOSED ENTRY AND EXIT ROUTE CONFIGURATION INTO AND OUT OF THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE RAILROAD SOUTH SEATTLE HUB CENTER INTERMODAL YARD WHICH CONNECTS WITH THE,INTERSTATE 5 FREEWAY AND MARTIN LUTHER KING JR WAY SOUTH WITH A NORTH TERMINAL ENTRY ACCESS FROM IRP0RT WAY SOUTH TO SOUTH SEATTLE Airpor ay Sou • 111•••■•• SEATTLE Interstate 5 Freeway. TUKWILA 0 500 1,opo ; 'J e 41 1 1 e Scale of Distahce-Feei- •••••••• SEATTLE .L. King Jr. ay South 1 1 1 OMMMOSIMM. 1WW■MMO■■••• TUKWILA Av So .1k fimA Future Entr :\ y‘tit Ramp from 2no Level'Facilitv, Elevated viaduct Licht Rail North \ Entry South 112th Street City of Seattle Electricity-Water Utiltt= aSat rSotth Residential Property to be Acquired for Bypas East Marginal Way South Surface Light Rail Line Street .L. King D South DU NE BNSF J%Railroad 10 8 TABLE D APPROXIMATE RANGES IN THE ESTIMATED CAPITAL COSTS OF THE PROPOSED ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVING TRUCK ROADWAY ACCESS INTO THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE RAILROAD INTERMODAL YARD HUB CENTER TERMINAL IN THE ALLENTOWN AREA OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA Solution Number Alternative Description Minimum Cost $ Medium Cost $ Maximum Cost Cost Ranking By Number 1 Airport Way South 16,000,000 24,250,000 32,500,000 8 2 Boeing Access Road 18,500,000 25,750,000 33,000,000 10 3 East Marginal Way 20,600,000 23,500,000 32,5000,000 7 4 South 115`" Street 22,150,000 31,750,000 41,300,000 11 5 South 1241' Street 6,450,000 11,250,000 15,900,000 1 6 Martin Luther King Way 27,500,000 32,000,000 36,200,000 12 7 Interstate 5 Freeway 22,500,000 24,750,000 26,800,000 9 8 Gateway Drive North 8,750,000 16,250,000 23,310,000 3 9 Gateway Drive South 6,800,000 11,850,000 16,900,000 2 10 Interurban Avenue South 20,000,000 21,250,000 22,500,000 6 11 48`" Avenue South 8,950,000 17,000,000 24,750,000 4 12 56`" Avenue South 14,300,000 20,750,000 27,100,000 5 Average Capital Cost 14,842,667 19,312,500 27,721,667 11 9 BNSF Railroad intermodal yard was that they generally involved fewer adverse community impacts as compared to those alternative solutions with southern end access. It will be necessary to develop suitable financial package for whatever recommended option for solving the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard is selected. The recommended and favored north end access solutions may require a BNSF Railroad expense of up to $13 million unless alternative financing means are utilized such as declaring the access ramp grade separations and using freight mobility funding. An estimated capital cost breakdown by type of expense for the alternative truck entry routes into the BNSF intermodal yard is illustrated in Figure C. A large scale justification for major public sector funding from State and Federal government sources can be developed based on the fact that there are substantial avoided costs resulting from reduced highway maintenance costs along the Interstate 90-94 freeway intercity corridor of $19 million per year for the State of Washington alone, and $134 million per year across the entire 7 Northern Tier states between Seattle and Chicago. A breakdown of highway maintenance cost savings across the Northern Tier States resulting from the intermodal diversion of these 660 trailers per day from road to rail using the BNSF intermodal yard is shown in Figure D. Ultimately a combined expenditure of $20 to 40 million will be required by the public sector and private sector separately or in a combination in order to enhance truck access into the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard while reducing or alleviating the adverse community impacts associated with these truck movements. It is possible that 70 to 75 percent of the total project cost could come from public sector grants from the Federal and State governments with the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard classed as being a past of the FAST Corridor project as an essential public facility with the entry and exit ramps as a rail-road grade separation, as presented in Table E. It is possible that the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard project could be financed by user fees of approximately $10.00 to 11.50 per trailer in order to repay of the long term low interest loans or tax exempt revenue bonds when based on a $40 million capital cost. The intermodal diversion of truck traffic from the road to the rail via the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard is expected to result in a total reduction in highway maintenance cost of $133 million per year across the 2,135 mile long route through the seven Northern Tier States. The prorate savings in total highway maintenance costs are expected to be $19 million per year for the 305 mile section across the State of Washington alone. The various diesel full taxes plus excise taxes and tire wear taxes paid by these trucks constitutes about 40 percent of these total roadway maintenance costs. The net roadway maintenance cost increase which would result across the seven Northern Tier States is estimated as $80 million per year if these trucks did not go by railroad with $11 million per year for the State of Washington. These avoided costs to State roadway maintenance costs can provide at least some justification for State and Federal government expenditures to improve truck access to the BNSF intermodal yard in Tukwila. 12 Figure Q COMPARISON OF THE ESTIMATED CAPITAL COSTS FOR THE PROPOSED ALTERNATIVE ROUTES FOR IMPROVED TRUCK ACCESS INTO AND OUT OF THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE RAILROAD SOUTH SEATTLE HUB CENTER INTERMODAL YARD TO REDUCE ADVERSE IMPACTS IN THE ALLENTOWN AREA OF THE CITY OF TUKWILA ra-1 P 31.9 5.9 26.8 ]Public Sector Funding IIPrivate Sector Funds Orr Public- Private :SeCtor - Funding Partnership 24.8, 7.1 a rr derr Sol 1 Airport Way South Sol 2 Sol 3 Sol 4 Sol 5 Sol 6 Sol 7 Sol 8 Boeing E. Marg 5 115th S 124th ML King IH 5 Gateway Access Way South Street Street Way South Freeway Dr North Road S 112th St Access Improvem IH 5 Fwy Onramps Access Sol 9 Sol 10 Sol 11 Gateway Interurb 48th Dr South an Avenue Avenue Access South South Sol 12 -56th Avenue '- South Figure D ESTIMATED AVOIDED HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE COST SAVINGS ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER STATES AS THE RESULT OF INTERMODAL DIVERSION OF DOMESTIC TRAILER AND CONTAINER SHIPMENTS FROM ROAD TO RAIL FOR SHIPMENTS BETWEEN SEATTLE AND CHICAGO OR TWIN CITIES WHICH ORIGINATE AND TERMINATE AT THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE RAILROAD INTERMODAL YARD IN TUKWILA Washing o d o Montana 18.95 Data compiled based on information develoed by the Washington State Department of Transpo North Dakota Minnesota sconsi Total Mainten lce Need Road Use Tax Reiniburse inois 2.69 Mill .27 Mill: Externalized Vaintenance- 79.42 Mill: Nonreimburseid from Tax -s 5.54 ation, Olympia, Washin ton, 1998.(Ref. 11). 500 1,000 1;500 Distance from Tukwila in Miles 2,000 2,400 TABLE E ESTIMATED CAPITAL COST OF THE COMBINED INTERSTATE 5 FREEWAY-MARTIN LUTHER KING WAY SOUTH EASTERN ACCESS AS A PROPOSED RAILROAD GRADE SEPARATION INTO 'THE BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE RAILROAD SOUTH SEATTLE INTERMODAL YARD IN CONJUNCTION VVITH THE POSSIBLE SOUND TRANSIT CENTRAL LINK LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT ALIGNMENT ALONG THE INTERSTATE 5 FREEWAY BETWEEN THE BOEING ACCESS ROAD AND THE SR599 FREEWAY Cost Category Specific Expense Expense Description Unit Cost $/unit Cost $ Funding Source Land Purchase Purchase existing homes Purchase 50 homes $150.000/homo 7.500.000 TEA-21 Grant State funds ByponoRood West bypass road along 44 Place South Construct 4,000-foot road as truck bypass 4.000/foot (2 lanes) 16.000.000 TEA-21 Grant State funds Connecting Road North entry road from Airport Way South Construct 1 ,750-foot road as truck entry 4.000/hoot (2 lanes) 7.000.000 BNSF railroad State entry road Sub-total Entry Roads: 23.000.000 Freeway Ramps Grade Separation Elevated road Construct 1,600 ft. of elevated viaducts 5.000/hJot 8'000.000 Fast corridor federal- state Surface road Construct 200 ft. of surface roadway 3.000/foot 600,000 Fast corridor federal- state Interchange points Construct six ramp interchange points 500.000/inL 3.000.000 Fast corridor federal- state Subtotal Ramps, Grade separation 11.800.000 Yard Reconfiguration Relocate entry gates and weigh scales Relocate gates and scales from south to north end of yard 6.500.000 5.550.000 BNSF Railroad Subtotal Yard Reconfiguration 5.550.000 TOTAL AMOUNT: 47.600.0001'3 40.600.0002'3 1 Includes the Airport Way South entry route into the BNSF Railroad intermodal yard. 2 Excludes the Airport Way South ent mu�i��e8�FR�|n�i��o���. o based nnPr�e/�funding a|buaUonu'by source aufollows: Funding Organization No Airport Way Entry BNSF Railroad King County ) Federal Cbvemment TOTAL With Airport Way Entry m 6,080,000 15.0 6,0E10,00 l2,8 7,500,000 18.5 7,500,000 15.8 7.560.000 18/6 7.560/000 15.9 19.460.000 47.9 26,460,000 55.O 40.600.000 100.0 47.600.000 100.0 Funding Type Direct expense Passthrough Grant Grant (FAST ) Grant (TEA-21)