To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Julie Lucido, Public Works Director
Prepared By: Farid Javandel, Senior Traffic Engineer
TITLE:
Title
Silverado-Third-Coombsville-East (“5-Way Intersection”) Project - Amendment #2
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Approve and authorize the Public Works Director to execute on behalf of the City Amendment No. 2 to C2023-710 with GHD Inc., a California Corporation, for professional engineering services to complete the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED) phase of the “5-Way Intersection” Project in the increased amount of $571,479.00, plus authority up to 20% contingency, for a total contract amount not to exceed $2,130,196.80.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The 5-Way Intersection Project (Project) will provide multimodal traffic safety and transportation improvements at the intersection of Silverado Trail (SR 121), Third Street, Coombsville Road, and East Avenue. The recommended action expands the scope of work under the professional services contract to complete the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED) phase. Additional technical engineering studies, environmental analyses, and documentation are required to meet the comprehensive approval process mandated by Caltrans and for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Background
On December 5, 2023, the City entered into a contract with GHD Inc. for professional services for the PA&ED phase. This phase will produce a detailed environmental document in accordance with both CEQA and NEPA to assess Project specifications and potential environmental impacts. The work proposed in this amendment is necessary to advance the Project to future phases, including construction plan preparation, property acquisition, and construction.
The Project Initiation Document (PID), developed and certified by Caltrans, initially anticipated that an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) would satisfy CEQA requirements. However, as the environmental analysis progressed, findings determined that an IS/MND was insufficient, necessitating an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
The section below describes the additional work necessary to complete the PA&ED. These tasks extend the schedule for this phase of the Project. To continue to make progress on the Project development, staff has initiated a Request for Qualifications/Proposal process, in parallel to the PA&ED work, to begin selection and negotiations to hire a design team for the Project.
The proposed maximum contract amount is $2,130,196.80, including contingency. This includes $1,444,422.00 for the approved original contract with amendment #1, $571,479.00 for this proposed amendment #2, and $114,295.80 for a proposed 20% contingency on amendment #2 for unforeseen additions in completing the PA&ED work.
Contract Amendments
Amendment #1 (September 2024): The first amendment authorized the preparation of a targeted EIR to analyze specific environmental concerns, including impacts to 801 Silverado Trail, a single-family residence locally listed as contributing to a potentially historic neighborhood district. Due to the building’s construction type, relocation was deemed impractical and cost-prohibitive, requiring demolition. As a result, the demolition would constitute a "significant and unavoidable" impact on a cultural/historic resource, requiring an EIR instead of an IS/MND.
Amendment #2 (Proposed): The first contract amendment, approved by the City Council on September 3, 2024, addressed the cost increase from an IS/MND to an EIR, with the expectation of an accelerated schedule completion by early 2025. However, additional Caltrans requirements and subsequent Project developments have necessitated further work, significantly extending the schedule.
Notably, Caltrans has now elevated the NEPA documentation from a Categorical Exclusion (CE) to an Environmental Assessment (EA), including an individual Section 4(f) evaluation to document impacts to the 801 Silverado Trail property.
Under this second contract amendment, the Project completion timeline will be extended to May 2026, requiring additional professional services for Caltrans coordination and ongoing team meetings. The amendment also includes the development of a right-of-way base map for SR 121 (Silverado Trail) to document existing conditions, preparation of preliminary utility mapping and utility information request letters, as well as preliminary construction staging plans to ensure accurate cost estimation. Additionally, the scope now requires the preparation of a Noise Abatement Decision Report (NADR), which was not initially anticipated, and the completion of a Value Analysis (VA) study.
The VA study will add value to this stage to ensure that the Project design is cost effective, and it is required for projects with an estimated total cost exceeding $25 million. The VA will support the selection of a preferred alternative under NEPA’s more stringent individual Section 4(f) requirements. Public Works is requesting Council authority for an additional 20% contingency on this contract amendment to address unforeseen needs that may arise based on results of the work under way to complete the PA&ED phase of this Project. Such unforeseen needs may arise out of coordination with utilities or the need to plan or design mitigation measures that may be identified as necessary during the public review of the Draft EIR.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
There are no financial impacts. Sufficient funding is available in the Silverado-Third-Coombsville-East (“5-Way Intersection”) Project (33ST14PW04) budget.
CEQA:
The Public Works Director has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not in-and-of-itself a “project” (pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378) since it does not result in a physical change in the environment.
However, the Recommended Action is part of a larger “project” that will be subject to environmental review in accordance with CEQA at the “earliest feasible time” prior to “approval” consistent with CEQA Guidelines Section 15004 and 15352. The larger project is the construction of the physical transportation improvements for the 5-Way Intersection Project. The outcome of the Consultant’s work for this Recommended Action will be delivery of the CEQA and NEPA documents for the 5-Way Intersection Project. Staff plans to bring back the CEQA analysis of the project to Council prior to any future discretionary actions on the 5-Way Intersection Project.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Amendment No.2- C2023-710
NOTIFICATION:
None.