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APPROVE RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE MARCH LANE ADAPTIVE TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM PROJECT
recommended action
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution to:
1. Authorize the City Manager to approve the filing of the Notice of Exemption No. CE007-17 under the California Environmental Quality Act for the March Lane Adaptive Traffic Control System, Project No. PW1312/Federal Project No. CML-5008(127).
2. Approve the plans and specifications for the March Lane Adaptive Traffic Control System, Project No. PW1312/Federal Project No. CML-5008(127).
3. Appropriate funds in the amount of $400,000 from Public Facility Fees Air Quality Citywide Fund 990 to the March Lane Adaptive Traffic Control System, Project No. PW1312/Federal Project No. CML-5008(127).
4. Award a Construction Contract in the amount of $1,349,959 to Siemens Industry, Inc. of West Sacramento, CA, for the March Lane Adaptive Traffic Control System, Project No. PW1312/Federal Project No. CML-5008(127).
It is also recommended that the City Manager be authorized to take appropriate and necessary actions to carry out the purpose and intent of this resolution.
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Summary
The March Lane Adaptive Traffic Control System project will coordinate 17 signalized intersections utilizing a system that optimizes signal timing based on actual real-time traffic demand. The project will install adaptive system software with related signal modifications, resulting in better vehicle progression along the corridor, reduced stops and delays, and improved air quality and roadway safety.
On March 13, 2012, by Motion No. 2012-03-13-1204, Council authorized submittal of an application for a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program grant for the March Lane Adaptive Traffic Control System project. The application was approved, and the project was included in the FY 2016-21 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).
On February 22, 2018, the City received five bids for this project. The second low bidder, Tim Paxin's Pacific Excavation, Inc., submitted a bid protest letter dated March 2, 2018 (Attachment B). Siemens Industry, Inc. submitted a response to the bid protest dated April 16, 2018 (Attachment C). After a thorough review of each issue raised in the bid protest letter submitted by Tim Paxin’s Pacific Excavation Inc., Public Works and the City Attorney’s Office staff determined the elements of the protest to be either without merit, or immaterial and/or inconsequential.
Staff recommends award of the Construction Contract to the lowest responsive bidder, Siemens Industry, Inc., in the amount of $1,349,959. Staff recommends that $400,000 be appropriated from the Public Facility Fees (PFF) Air Quality Citywide Fund 990 to award the contract and fund all other project related costs. Staff also recommends that Council adopt a resolution authorizing the filing of Notice of Exemption No. CE007-17 under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Construction is anticipated to begin in late summer 2018 and be completed by spring 2019.
This project is subject to federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) requirements.
DISCUSSION
Background
Public Works is deploying Adaptive Traffic Control Systems along designated major corridors to help enhance traffic management. There are two types of “Adaptive” systems: Adaptive Real-time Control and Adaptive Responsive Control. Real-time systems monitor traffic volumes along the corridor and utilize software to calculate optimal signal timings to adapt to real-time conditions. Responsive Systems also monitor traffic volumes and use this data to select from pre-set traffic signal timing plans based on historic traffic conditions along the corridor. Adaptive Real-time Systems are significantly more complex than Responsive Systems, and are typically limited to corridors having higher and unpredictable volumes, connections to freeways, and greater traffic management priority.
The March Lane Adaptive Traffic Control System project will install Siemens PC Split Cycle Offset Optimization Technique (SCOOT) adaptive traffic control system software with related signal modifications at 17 traffic signals along the March Lane corridor (Attachment A - Vicinity Map). The new adaptive traffic control system will enable these signals to immediately adapt to real-time traffic demand. This will result in better vehicle progression along the corridor, reduced stops and delays, and improved air quality and roadway safety. The project will upgrade the controllers at each intersection, install additional vehicle detection for adaptive control, and install and configure the adaptive server to receive the SCOOT programming. In addition, the project will add/upgrade emergency vehicle preemption at each signal.
On March 13, 2012, by Motion No. 2012-03-13-1204, Council authorized submittal of an application for a federal CMAQ program grant for the March Lane Adaptive Traffic Control System project. The CMAQ program funds projects that contribute to the attainment or maintenance of National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The minimum local match for the CMAQ program is 11.47 percent. The CMAQ funding application in the total amount of $1,324,000 in CMAQ federal funds was approved, and the project received $1,172,137 in CMAQ federal funds. The required local match was $151,863.
Staff submitted a grant application to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (Valley Air District) under the Public Benefit Grant Program-Advanced Transit and Transportation program to fund the local share of $151,863. The grant application was approved in April 2015. These funds can only be used for construction related work. The project was included in the FY 2016-21 CIP. In July 2015, Caltrans issued authorization to proceed with the construction phase.
Since the project is funded with federal transportation dollars, DBE program rules apply. DBE rules require that the prime contractor either meet a calculated project specific DBE participation goal or undertake and document good faith efforts to do so. If the apparent low bidder does not meet the project goal, a Good Faith Efforts Evaluation must be made examining several specific factors. Failure to meet the goal or provide evidence of adequate good faith efforts are grounds for rejecting the bidder as non-responsive.
A DBE is a socially and economically disadvantaged small business owned by a woman or by a specified ethnic group that has been properly certified by Caltrans. These groups include:
• African American
• Asian Pacific American
• Native American
• Women
• Hispanic American
• Subcontinent Asian American
A DBE goal of four percent was established for this project. The goal was calculated by examining the breakdown of the types of work to be performed, and the availability of certified DBE companies in our market area to perform the work. A pre-bid meeting was held on February 7, 2018, to emphasize the DBE requirements, and to provide information on how to meet the project DBE goal.
The federal CMAQ funding restrictions prohibit the use of the Local Employment Ordinance (Stockton Municipal Code (SMC) section 3.68.095), and the Local Business Preference Ordinance (SMC section 3.68.090).
On July 26, 2016, Council adopted a Community Workforce and Training Agreement (CWTA). The CWTA became effective August 25, 2016, and applies to all Public Works projects over $1 million that are bid after that date. The CWTA was not applied to this project as federal regulations prohibit the use of such agreements.
Present Situation
On, January 30, 2018, the March Lane Adaptive Traffic Control System project was advertised for bids. On February 22, 2018, five bids were received with the following results:
COMPANY NAME BID AMOUNT
Siemens Industry, Inc. (West Sacramento, CA) $1,349,959
Tim Paxin’s Pacific Excavation, Inc. (Elk Grove, CA) $1,374,447
PTM General Engineering (Riverside, CA) $1,676,076
St. Francis Electric, LLC (San Leandro, CA) $1,863,450
Tennyson Electric (Livermore, CA) $2,125,036
Engineer’s Estimate $1,581,184
The bid from Siemens Industry, Inc., the lowest responsive bidder, is regular in all respects. Siemens Industry, Inc. has the proper license to perform the work and has proposed a DBE participation of 26 percent, which exceeds the four percent DBE goal.
The second low bidder, Tim Paxin's Pacific Excavation, Inc., submitted a bid protest letter to the City on March 2, 2018 (Attachment B). Siemens Industry, Inc. submitted a response to the bid protest dated April 16, 2018 (Attachment C). Public Works and City Attorney’s Office staff has conducted a thorough review of each element of the bid protest, and deemed each element to be either without merit, or immaterial and/or inconsequential.
The bid protest letter raised a potential conflict of interest concern as Siemens Industry, Inc. is the developer of the specified SCOOT system. This concern was addressed during the project design, and included a detailed evaluation of commercially available adaptive traffic control systems in the United States. Designers concluded that the SCOOT system was best suited for the March Lane corridor, would integrate with the City’s signal controller software, and met the functional, operational, and maintenance requirements of City traffic signals. Based on this evaluation, a Public Interest Finding (PIF) was submitted to Caltrans. Caltrans concurred with the PIF on July 10, 2015 (Attachment D). Although Siemens Industry, Inc. developed and manufactures the SCOOT system, Siemens Industry, Inc. does not distribute the system. The west coast distributor of the SCOOT system is a separate company from the entity associated with the lowest bidder, which is Western Systems, Inc. and not Siemens Industry, Inc. Any contractor utilizing the SCOOT system on the west coast, including Siemens Industry, Inc., acquires the system components from Western Systems, Inc. as stated in the Special Provisions of the bid document. As a result, there is no conflict of interest resulting from Siemens Industry, Inc. bidding on this project as the SCOOT system is an off-the-shelf item readily available from a third-party vendor. Staff recommends approving the plans and specifications for the project, and awarding the Construction Contract to Siemens Industry, Inc. of West Sacramento, CA, in the amount of $1,349,959.
Additional funds are required to award the contract and complete the project. Staff recommends that $400,000 of PFF Air Quality Citywide Funds (990 fund balance) be appropriated to award the Construction Contract and fund all other project related costs.
Caltrans National Environmental Policy Act determination was received on April 23, 2015. The State determined that the project is a Categorical Exclusion under 23 CFR 771.117(c): activity (c) (21). Similarly, the project is in conformance with the City’s General Plan, pursuant to California Government Code section 65402, and is categorically exempt from the requirements of CEQA as specified under Article 19, Section 15301, Class 1, of the CEQA Guidelines. The resolution will approve the filing of Notice of Exemption No. CE007-17 under CEQA.
Construction is anticipated to begin in late summer 2018 and be completed by spring 2019.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
The total current project budget is $1,324,000. This funding level was estimated to be sufficient when the CMAQ grant application was prepared in 2012. The funding is now insufficient due to current market conditions. Approximately $167,000 was expended on the design phase of the project, leaving an unobligated project balance of $1,157,000. Staff recommends the appropriation of additional funding in the amount of $400,000 from the PFF Air Quality Citywide Fund 990 fund balance (990-0000-492) to the March Lane Adaptive Traffic Control System (990-3020-640; PW1312). The additional funding will bring the unobligated balance to $1,557,000. This is sufficient to award a Construction Contract in the amount of $1,349,959 with Siemens Industry, Inc. The remaining funding will be used for contingencies, change orders, construction management, and staff costs.
This project is eligible to expend these restricted funds. There is no impact to the City’s General Fund or any other unrestricted fund as a result of taking the recommended action.
Attachment A - Vicinity Map
Attachment B - Protest Letter from Tim Paxin’s Pacific Excavation, Inc.
Attachment C - Response Letter from Siemens Industry, Inc.
Attachment D - PIF Form