Agenda Date: 05/21/2024
Subject:
Title
Resolution 61-2024: Approving a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) with Michael Baker International for design services on the Broadway & Littleton Boulevard and Broadway & Mineral Avenue Intersection Improvements Project
Body
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From: |
James L. Becklenberg, City Manager |
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Prepared by: |
Brent Soderlin, Deputy Director of Public Works and Utilities |
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Brent Thompson, City Engineer |
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Presentations: |
N/A |
PURPOSE:
Does city council support approving a PSA with Michael Baker International for design services on the Broadway & Littleton Boulevard and Broadway & Mineral Avenue Intersection Improvements Project?
LONG-TERM OUTCOME(S) SERVED:
Safe Community; High Quality Governance
DISCUSSION:
The City of Littleton has been awarded grant funding for the redesign and reconstruction of the Broadway & Littleton Boulevard and Broadway & Mineral Avenue intersections. The recently completed Broadway Corridor Study was a multijurisdictional effort to reimagine the Broadway corridor as a safer roadway that provides convenient access to users across all modes of transportation. The intersection improvement project will be the next step in bringing to fruition the vision and recommendations from the study. In addition to building on the Broadway Corridor Study, this project will analyze the east and west approaches of both intersections to address additional safety issues, including access management, multimodal facilities, and intersection operations.
A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for design services on this project was released on April 10, 2023 and interviews were conducted the week of June 15, 2023. Staff selected Michael Baker International as the best qualified firm to complete the design of this project. The current proposed fee for design is $1.26 million, which is reflected in the attached scope and fee. Staff reviewed and discussed this fee in great detail with the Michael Baker team and compared the proposed costs to other design projects and determined this fee to be in alignment with design fees from other projects given the magnitude of work. These costs are budgeted in the 2024 budget.
These projects were originally conceived in 2020, and construction costs have increased dramatically since then. Knowing that the city will be unable to complete all the desired improvements at both intersections with the amount of funds remaining for construction, staff proactively reached out to CDOT with this concern. In January of 2024, city staff met with staff from CDOT’s Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), the program that awarded the funding, to discuss the expected funding shortfall. In these discussions, CDOT instructed city staff to take design for both intersections to 30% (preliminary design) and reengage program staff to discuss what additional funding might be available to complete construction. If no additional funding can be secured through HSIP, city staff will prioritize safety improvements at each intersection and bring the most impactful improvements through final design and construction while looking for additional funding sources to complete the remaining improvements.
The design portion of the project is anticipated to take eighteen months to complete, with advertisement for construction bids expected at the end of 2025 and construction starting in 2026.
BACKGROUND:
As part of the city’s ongoing desire to see the Broadway Corridor become a space that invites business investment and facilitates safe multimodal travel, the City of Littleton applied for and was awarded grant funding for the redesign and reconstruction of the Broadway and Littleton Boulevard and Broadway and Mineral Avenue intersections through the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP).
Prior Actions or Discussions
An IGA with CDOT for design and construction of the Broadway & Littleton Boulevard and Broadway & Mineral Avenue Intersection Improvements Project was approved by city council as Resolution 81-2023 on August 15, 2023.
FISCAL IMPACTS:
Pursuant to the city’s Procurement Policy, all contracts exceeding $500,000 must be approved by city council.
The fee for the proposed PSA design phase of the intersection improvement project is $1,255,793. This contract will be funded 90% from Grant Funds and 10% from Transportation Impact Fees.
The contract will be split into two phases:
• Phase 1 - Preliminary Design for $683,153; and
• Phase 2 - Final Design for $572,640.
This resolution will award a contract for the full scope and fee. Staff will encumber funds for Phase 1 in 2024, and Phase 2 in 2025.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the resolution approving the Professional Services Agreement.
ALTERNATIVES:
If this contract award is not approved, design on the Broadway Intersections Improvements Project will not proceed. Leveraging grant funds for projects such as this is critical to complete projects the city would unlikely be able to afford on its own. Forgoing this opportunity would put Littleton at a significant disadvantage in attaining community goals related to transportation, economic development, and quality of life. Turning down the funds would also put Littleton at significant disadvantage in competing for future transportation funding that is available through CDOT.
PROPOSED MOTION:
Proposed Motion
I move to approve Resolution 61-2024 awarding a contract to Michael Baker International for design services on the Broadway& Littleton Boulevard and Broadway & Mineral Avenue Intersection Improvements Project.