To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Julie Lucido, Public Works Director
Prepared By: Lorien Clark, Transportation Planner
TITLE:
Title
Soscol Junction Project Funding Agreement
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution (1) authorizing the Public Works Director to execute on behalf of the City a Funding Agreement with Napa Valley Transportation Authority for construction support services in an amount not to exceed $848,800.60 in Fair Share Mitigation Fees for the Soscol Junction project; (2) approving a budget adjustment in the Fair Share Mitigation Fees Fund increasing revenue and expenditure budgets by $848,800.60 as documented in Council Budget Amendment No. 135; and (3) determining that the actions authorized by this resolution were adequately analyzed by a previous CEQA action.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The intersection of State Route (SR) 29 and SR 221/Soscol Ferry Road is located in unincorporated Napa County just outside the City of Napa. This intersection connects the City of Napa to the larger regional network and serves as a major gateway for residents, visitors, workers, and freight traveling to/from the City of Napa.
In its current configuration, this intersection cannot accommodate the existing traffic volumes, nor the expected future growth. At present, drivers frequently experience large delays at this intersection and back-ups are common. The Soscol Junction project will reconfigure the existing intersection of SR 29 and SR 221/Soscol Ferry Road from a signalized intersection to a diamond interchange with two roundabouts underneath SR 29 to allow for the continuous north-south movement of vehicles. The Soscol Junction project will reduce traffic congestion, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve safety, and improve bicycle/pedestrian connectivity through the intersection.
Given the intersection’s proximity to the City of Napa and its role in connecting the local and regional transportation networks, development projects located within the City of Napa may contribute to future traffic growth at this intersection. As part of the regular development review process, the City requires development projects to analyze the transportation impacts of their project. Multiple development projects located in the City of Napa have identified transportation impacts that required a condition of approval to be imposed on the development project to pay a proportionate fair-share fee for the construction of improvements at the SR 29/SR221/Soscol Ferry Road intersection in order to mitigate their impacts to this intersection. To date, the City has collected a total of $848,800.60 in Fair Share Mitigation Fees for the Soscol Junction project.
Napa Valley Transportation Authority (NVTA) and Caltrans have entered into a cooperative agreement for the construction of the Soscol Junction project, with NVTA managing the construction support for the project.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
There are no financial impacts to the General Fund. For multiple development projects located in the City of Napa, the payment of fair share fees was included as a condition of approval to mitigate the transportation impacts created by these development projects to the intersection of SR29 and SR221/Soscol Ferry Road. To date, the City has collected a total of $848,800.60 in Fair Share Fees for this intersection. The use of these funds is limited to improvements at the SR29 and SR221/Soscol Ferry Road intersection and cannot be used for projects elsewhere in the City.
The collected Fair Share Fees are currently held in the Liability section of the Fund’s balance sheet. This action would recognize these fees as revenue to the fund and appropriate the fees so that they can be spent. The attached Council Budget Amendment No. 135 would increase both the revenue and expenditure budgets for the Fair Share Mitigation Fees Fund by $848,800.60. The expenditure budget will then be used to pay NVTA under the proposed Soscol Junction Project Funding Agreement.
CEQA:
City staff recommends that the City Council determine that the potential environmental effects of the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report were adequately analyzed by the Initial Study with Mitigated Negative Declaration/Environmental Assessment with Finding of No Significant Impact for the State Route 29/State Route 221 Soscol Junction Improvement Project adopted by the California Department of Transportation on February 13, 2020, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15162.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Resolution
EX A - Council Budget Amendment No. 135
ATCH 2 - Funding Agreement
NOTIFICATION:
None.