TO: Mayor and Commissioners
FROM: John Morgan, Director Environmental Services
THROUGH: Donald B. Cooper, City Manager
DATE: May 17, 2016
Title
2016 LOCAL INITIATIVE (LI) AND TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVE PROGRAM (TAP) GRANT SUBMITTALS TO THE PALM BEACH COUNTY METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION (MPO)
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Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Motion to submit four (4) grant applications and approve four (4) supporting resolutions for the 2016 Local Initiative and Transportation Alternative Programs funded through the Palm Beach County Metropolitan Planning Organization:
1) Alley Upgrades (Local Initiative) Resolution No. 19-16
2) Brant Bridge Improvements (Local Initiative) Resolution No. 20-16
3) Congress Avenue Complete Street (Local Initiative) Resolution No. 21-16
4) Delray Beach Greenway (Transportation Alternative Program) Resolution No.22-16
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Background:
The Palm Beach MPO administers two competitive application processes annually for the funding of projects located within Palm Beach County. The application process typically commences in January, when the MPO posts online application materials.
Applications are ranked and and recommended for funding by the MPO advisory committees and the MPO Board. Scoring criteria is based on the Goals, Objectives and Values of Directions 2040 and, the Palm Beach MPO's Long Range Transportation Plan. 2016 project applications to be recommended for funding will be included in the MPO's Project Priority List for Fiscal Years 2018-2022, anticipated for MPO adoption in mid-2016.
The latest Long Range Transportation Plan Directions 2040, carved out future allocations of MPO Surface Transportation funds to be used at the MPO's discretion. As a result, the Local Initiatives (LI) program was created as an annual application process to identify and evaluate for potential funding the better lower-cost, non-regionally significant transportation projects that our communities want and our economies need. Approximately $17M has been allocated annually to fund projects under the Local Initiatives (LI) Program.
Established by MAP-21, the federal Transportation Alternatives Program is a cost-reimbursement program where projects are selected by the MPO but administered by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The program funds on and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, and environmental mitigation; recreational trail projects; safe routes to school projects; and projects for planning, designing, or constructing boulevards and other roadways largely in the right-of-way of former divided highways. Approximately $3M has been allocated annually in recent years to fund Transportation Alternative (TA) projects.
The deadline for applications to be accepted by the MPO for the LI & TAP Programs was April 1, 2016. Presentations and review ranking shall be conducted on May 5, 2016.
Eligible Local Initiative project types:
- Transportation system management and operations (ITS), "complete streets," lighting and / or safety improvements)
- Transit capital purchases of vehicles, shelters, park-and-ride facilities
- Non-motorized (buffered and designated bike lanes, sidewalks, shared-use paths)
- Freight (airport or seaport off-site capacity improvements, railway capacity improvements)
Funds allocated for projects during the 2016 application process will be made available July 1, 2021.
Eligible Transportation Alternative project types:
- Eligible applicants for Safe Routes to School include public schools or school districts, private schools, government agencies, health departments, colleges and universities.
- Includes project and programs eligible for funding under the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program
- Pedestrian and bicycle facilities
- Infrastructure for improving non-driver access to public transportation
- Community improvement activities
Funds allocated for projects during the 2016 application process will be made available July 1, 2019.
The Environmental Services Department and the Planning and Zoning Department have worked together to prepare three applications for consideration under the Local Initiative Program along with one application for consideration under the Transportation Alternative Program:
1) Alley Upgrades (LI): This project repurposes a major north south City alley from an underutilized asset to safe, secure and attractive bike-pedestrian route. Residential neighborhoods will be connected to the central business, arts and entertainment districts by means of a multi-use pathway. At the same time, the alley enhancement will remove blight, provide a safe route to public amenities, and improve sustainability by reducing water runoff and heat island effects while continuing to provide access by local vehicles and deliveries. The ultimate objective is to create a grid of enhanced alleys that will connect to complete streets providing bike-ped pathways through the City.
2) Brant Bridge Improvements (LI): The Brant Bridge was deemed functionally obsolete by the Florida Department of Transportation on 9/11/14. Recently the City replaced the southern approach slab due to settlement of the roadway. Furthermore, the existing bridge is currently 24' wide which does not promote safe passage of pedestrians or bicycle traffic. The proposed replacement bridge will increase the width of the bridge to promote safe passage of pedestrians and bicycles. The travel lanes for vehicles will still remain the same (10'), however, the outside travel lanes on both sides of the roadway will be new 10' wide pedestrian and bicycle pathways. These pedestrian and bicycle pathways will furthermore be separated from the vehicular traffic by a concrete traffic separator.
3) Congress Avenue Complete Street (LI): A portion of Congress Avenue, a four mile, 6-lane roadway located along the newly designated Innovation Corrodor, recently studied in depth by the Congress Avenue Task Force, will be enhanced to a Complete Street as an economic development initiative to attract startups to Delray Beach. The project will include: protected bike lanes and sidewalks, transit interconnections with trolleys, and commuter trains to attract companies interested in sustainability and environmentally aware millennials. The Congress Avenue Corridor will feature:
Live, work, play environment, including workforce housing
Multi-use neighborhoods characteristic of urbanism
An extensive trolley circuit that runs the length of Congress Avenue and connects to the transit hub as well as the Central Business District
Design guidelines that emphasize human scale, extensive landscaping, and sustainability
Reducing lanes from 6 to four and also reducing lane widths from 12 feet to 11 feet
Higher density around the transit hub to emphasize walkability
Parking ratios modified to accommodate bicycles, reduce asphalt, and increase tree canopy
Extensive landscaping the length of the corridor featuring canopy trees for shade and sustainability
4) Delray Beach Greenway (TAP): The Greenway project will establish a multi-use trail along the E-4 Canal. The canal is adjacent to the City of Delray Beach Municipal Golf Course. The multi-use trail will be constructed on the east side of the canal with the southern limit being Lowson Boulevard and the northern limit West Atlantic Avenue. The multi-use trail will contain walking and biking paths and will be automobile-free. The walking and biking paths will be landscaped and are bordered by the canal. The one mile long Greenway will provide access to a nearby Atlantic High School and the Municipal Golf Course, and will eventually connect with a major east-west greenway that leads to a National Wildlife Refuge to the west and a recreational lake on the east. Some of the benefits of the greenway include connections to the nearby Atlantic High School, an underserviced community, and the nearest commuter rail station. Future phases to the north and south will connect to greenways in Boca Raton and Boynton Beach as well as neighborhood bike and pedestrian pathways; the Greenway is truly a Regional Transportation Facility.
City Attorney Review:
Approved as to form and legal sufficiency.
Finance Department Review:
Finance recommends approval.
Funding Source:
Funds will be required in 2020 for design/engineering professional services which will be requested in the FY 2019 CIP Budget.
Timing of Request:
The timing of this request is of high importance. The City has submitted the grant applications to the MPO and supporting resolutions are due by the end of June 2016.