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Home My WebLink AboutTIS 2023-02-06 Item 2B - Update - Unsuccessful 2022 RAISE Grant Application for Strander Boulevard Extension Phase 31111111111111111 Ci k !a Public >>dh,arks Department ri P Inekanti, Director/+ditty Eng INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM TO: Transportation & Infrastructure Services Committee FROM: Hari Ponnekanti, Public Works Director/City Engineer BY: Brittany Robinson, Public Works Grant Analyst CC: Mayor Allan Ekberg DATE: February 3, 2023 SUBJECT: Strander Blvd Extension Phase 3 Project Project No. 98610403 Update on Unsuccessful 2022 RAISE Grant Allan Ekberg, ISSUE Update regarding the unsuccessful application for the 2022 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) grant program for the Strander Blvd Extension Project. Strategic discussion on future federal grant opportunities. BACKGROUND Conversations on the Strander Blvd Extension started in the 1980s. The City of Renton had the lead at that time and completed Phases 1 and 2 of the project. The City of Tukwila was the lead on Phase 3. The purpose of the project was to meet growth management concurrency standards, and to move 22,500 vehicles per day off South 180th Street, Grady Way and 1-405. The project was planned to complete the last 1,500 feet of an east -west connection by constructing a safe crossing of a key regional railroad line. On February 16, 2016, Council approved BergerABAM to begin preliminary design of the Strander Blvd Extensions Phase 3 project. During the preliminary engineering phase, the project became more complicated due to unforeseen circumstances and the cost estimate increased. In 2019, design was stopped at 30% in order to conduct the Value Engineering (VE) Study, which was recommended by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). BergerABAM (now part of WSP) was selected as the City's VE study consultant. Based on information provided in the VE study, the total project costs increased from $39,102,000 to $83,781,626, more than double the original estimate. Council Decision to Stop Project At the June 10, 2019, Committee of the Whole meeting, three options were presented for Council to consider by the Public Works Director and the consultant, BergerABAM: Option 1: Continue with the current design of a 4 -lane road. $5 to $10 million potential cost savings identified by VE Study. Option 2: Incorporate value engineering proposals of a 2- lane road with no seal, if possible, and continue design. This option would eliminate walls on one side of the structure. $10 to $25 million potential cost savings identified. Option 2 was the recommendation of City Administration. Takwi 'ty Hon 6200 So 01, cant la and 8 9 w 206,43 00 k Agou 37 Info Memo, Page 2 Option 3. Stop work. Return grant funding and reimburse federal funds spent to date. The council consensus at the June 10 2019 Committee of the Whole meeting was to stop work and return grant funding ($2 million of the full $5 million STP grant from PSRC) due to: • significant cost increase for the project, which was at 30% design and clarified with the VE, • no clear funding path to make up the financial gap of approximately $44 to $66 million, • reduced benefits if not pursuing a full -build to 4 lanes (which could reduce funding partners), • the determination that it was better to stop now and return funds. DISCUSSION On December 14, 2022, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) opened their call for projects for RAISE grant funding. The RAISE program is a federal funding source that supports road, rail, transit, and port infrastructure projects that have local and regional impacts. The deadline to apply for funding is February 28, 2023. Staff is bringing this item to Committee for discussion. The City has applied for RAISE funding (formerly known as TIGER and BUILD) eight times since 2010 for the Strander Blvd Extension project. To date, we have not been successful in procuring these funds, even when we had support from other funders, legislature, and community partners. If we apply in 2023, this will be the ninth time the City has applied for a RAISE grant for the Strander Extension Project. The most recent application was submitted in 2022 and was unsuccessful. Timeline August 2010 Applied for TIGER Grant (unsuccessful) March 2012 Applied for TIGER Grant (unsuccessful) April 2014 Applied for FASTLANE Grant (successful) April 2014 Applied for TIGER Grant (unsuccessful) June 2015 Applied for TIGER Grant (unsuccessful) February 2016 Preliminary Design Begins, project cost estimated at $39M at this time March 2016 Applied for PSRC Grant (successful) April 2016 Applied for TIGER Grant (unsuccessful) October 2017 Applied for TIGER Grant (unsuccessful) March 2018 Applied for FMSIB Grant (successful) April 2018 Applied for PSRC Grant (unsuccessful) July 2018 Applied for TIB Grant (unsuccessful) July 2018 Applied for BUILD Grant (unsuccessful) Early 2019 30% design complete, project complications identified. VE study recommended. Early 2019 VE study completed, new cost estimate for project increased to $83M June 2019 Council consensus to stop project 2019-2020 All awarded grant funding returned (approx. $2M) January 2021 Strander Project Removed from the Capital Improvement Program (CI P) March 2022 Consultant provided new cost estimate of $100M for the Strander Project. This estimate was acquired for the 2022 RAISE grant application April 2022 Applied for RAISE Grant (unsuccessful) February 28, 2023 2023 RAISE Grant Deadline Phan 20 _4339.18 0 Er 'ETukwwi Irv' Tu kwilalR A. ' v 38 Info Memo, Page 2 Feedback From Granting Agency On January 31, 2023, City staff met with USDOT and Federal Highway Association officials to discuss feedback regarding our 2022 RAISE grant submission. Of the 936 grant applications for the 2022 RAISE grant, only 303 applications made it through the review process and were recommended to the Secretary. Of the applications that made it to the Secretary, only 166 applications were approved for funding. The Tukwila project application was denied for four main reasons: 1. The fact that we returned $5 million in Fastlane funding for this project in 2019 reflected negatively on our application. For future applications for the Strander Blvd Extension project, the City would need to address the return of funds. 2. The 2022 grant application did not address the gaps in funding for the project. The City would need funding commitments from other grantors, outside of RAISE, in order for USDOT to feel secure in their investment. The City could also put forth funding, but the current gap, assuming RAISE funding is received, is estimated to be $80 million. 3. The project review team left a comment on the project schedule stating that the scheduled is too aggressive and unrealistic. They did not think we could meet the schedule laid out in the RAISE requirements. 4. The project scored medium in innovation due to lack of new and emerging technologies in the areas of traffic rate collection and environmental risk. Feedback from Federal Lobbyist The City also received feedback from our federal lobbyist, who suggested that we should wait to apply for the 2024 RAISE application for the Allentown Truck Reroute project, as that is likely to be a more competitive project due to the high level of neighborhood involvement. FINANCIAL IMPACT Since 2016, cost estimates for the Strander Blvd Extension project have increased from $39 million to approximately $100 million. The $100 million estimate was provided by TranTech Engineering, a local consulting firm, in support of the City's 2022 RAISE grant application. The cost estimate is preliminary and will need to be updated to provide accurate project costs. A key reason the project was stopped is because there was no clear funding path to make up the financial gap after the project costs increased. Since that time, the gap in funding has continued to increase because all secured grants were returned and the project was removed from the Capital Improvement Program (CIP), which removed all allocated City funds from the project. There is no budget to support grant leverage, staffing, or other costs associated with restarting the Strander Blvd Extension project. The Public Works Engineering Team also has a key Project Manager position frozen, which would be necessary to provide enough internal capacity to reinstate this project. RECOMMENDATION Administration recommends not applying for the 2023 RAISE grant so that next year we are in a better position to apply for funding for the Allentown Truck Reroute project, which will have a five-year deadline once the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is complete. Phan 20 _4339.1 ' 0 Er Tukwwi Irv' TukwilalR A. ' v 39