Agenda Date: 04/15/2025
Subject:
Title
Resolution 27-2025: Approving an Intergovernmental Agreement with Arapahoe County and the City of Centennial, for design, right-of-way acquisition, and utility relocation for the High Line Canal Trail Underpass at South Broadway and East Arapahoe Road
Body
|
From: |
James L. Becklenberg, City Manager |
|
Prepared by: |
Brent Soderlin, Director of Public Works & Utilities |
|
|
Matthew Matuszewski, Capital Improvement Program Manager |
|
|
Kyle Morris, Transportation Engineer II |
|
Presentations: |
N/A |
PURPOSE:
Does city council support an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the City of Littleton, Arapahoe County, and the City of Centennial, regarding cost sharing, project scope, and responsibilities for the design, right-of-way acquisition, and utility relocation for the High Line Canal Trail Underpass at South Broadway and East Arapahoe Road?
LONG-TERM OUTCOME(S) SERVED:
Safe Community; High-Quality Governance
DISCUSSION:
There are several locations throughout Littleton where trail users and motorists interact at roadway and at-grade trail crossings that could be improved significantly in both safety and operations through the implementation of upgraded crossing infrastructure such as trail underpasses. Since underpasses provide trail users with infrastructure to cross under and separate from activities along the roadway, it removes any safety and conflict issues between trail users and motorists that are typically presented at at-grade crossings. One of the high-use crossings with safety issues in Littleton that would greatly benefit from an underpass, as highlighted by multiple stakeholders, is located at the High Line Canal Trail crossing of South Broadway, south of the South Broadway and East Arapahoe Road intersection. This current trail crossing has no crosswalk markings or stop control (signs, signals), resulting in a crossing that does not clearly define the safe space to cross or alert vehicles when and where to stop when trail users are crossing.
With the safety improvement need and improvement type (underpass) for this location now identified by multiple stakeholders, the partnering jurisdictions of the City of Littleton, City of Centennial, and Arapahoe County, are preparing to move into the design phase for the underpass project. State and federal funding, supported by local match contributions from each of the participating jurisdictions, as further discussed in this memo, have been secured for the design phase. In addition to the underpass project, the City of Littleton and City of Centennial are partnering, through this IGA, to complete repairs of the existing High Line Canal bridge at this location.
Before moving forward into design, an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) must be executed between the three participating jurisdictions to define and formalize the project scope, project delivery roles and responsibilities, cost sharing, and financial transactions. Once the IGA is executed, Arapahoe County, with input from the cities, will move forward to procuring a design consultant. Design is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2025 and be completed around the end of 2026. No funding for construction has been secured at this point but will be pursued once the design is finalized.
The action before council will approve the IGA between the City of Littleton, Arapahoe County, and the City of Centennial to formalize the project scope, roles, responsibilities, and financial-related activities for the design phase for the High Line Canal Trail Underpass at South Broadway, south of East Arapahoe Road.
BACKGROUND:
Arapahoe County, in partnership with the High Line Canal Conservancy, previously completed a study of crossings of roadways and the High Line Canal Trail within Arapahoe County. The study identified seven locations with the greatest need for a new trail underpass to improve safety for trail users and motorists. One of these High Line Canal Trail crossing locations identified in the study is located south of the intersection of South Broadway and East Arapahoe Road on the boundary of Centennial and Littleton. This location is also identified as an important area for safety improvements by the City of Littleton Transportation Master Plan, which identifies this location for grade separated improvements in the form of an underpass under South Broadway. This project also supports the City of Littleton’s goals and vision for bike and pedestrian safety improvements.
The City of Littleton, City of Centennial, and Arapahoe County are partnering to deliver the implementation of an underpass at this location. The first step in implementation of this needed safety improvement is to complete project design, following execution of the IGA between these stakeholders. The design phase scope includes design, right-of-way acquisition, and utility relocation, as further described in scope in Exhibit B (Design Phase Overview) of the IGA. This phase does not include the construction of the underpass. Additionally, the scope of the IGA includes design for repairs of the bridge, north of the trail, at the sole expense of the City of Littleton and City of Centennial. The bridge at this location is in need of structural repairs. All parties agreed that it was more cost effective in the long term to replace the existing structure concurrently with the trail underpass.
The City of Littleton, Arapahoe County, and the City of Centennial are entering into an IGA, to formalize the project scope, respective agency local match contributions, roles, and responsibilities for the design phase of the project.
Key terms of the IGA and associated exhibits include:
- Arapahoe County, in coordination with the Cities of Littleton and Centennial, will be primarily responsible for facilitating, overseeing, and completing the design phase.
- Arapahoe County will also be responsible for soliciting for professional services for the design phase, managing the funds for the design phase, and coordinating the required reporting.
- Several project elements, for example, utilities, traffic signals, roadway striping, lighting, sidewalks, storm drainage, and landscaping/irrigation, will be designed per each of the respective jurisdiction’s design criteria.
- Ownership, operations, and maintenance responsibilities for each of the respective jurisdictions will be defined and entered into a separate agreement at a later date once construction funding is secured.
The total cost for the design phase of the project is $5,075,250. Arapahoe County received grant funds from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) for the design phase of the Project. The local match contributions from the three jurisdictions total of $955,250, as shown in the following table, Arapahoe County’s local match contribution is lower than the City of Littleton’s and City of Centennial’s local match contributions as the County will not be contributing to costs associated with the work related to the Broadway bridge.
|
Jurisdiction |
Local Match for Estimated Design Phase Costs |
Percentage of Local Match |
|
Arapahoe County |
$197,979.62 |
20.7% |
|
Centennial |
$378,635.19 |
39.65% |
|
Littleton |
$378,635.19 |
39.65% |
|
TOTAL |
$955,250.00 |
100% |
Prior Actions or Discussions
The need for grade separated improvements at this location was identified in the City’s 2019 Transportation Master Plan.
FISCAL IMPACTS:
The total cost for the design phase of the project is $5,075,250. The three partnering jurisdictions will contribute a combined total of $955,250 local match funds. The City of Littleton’s local match share is $378,635.19 and will be funded from Multimodal Impact Fees and the 3A Sales Tax Capital Improvement Fund.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of the Intergovernmental Agreement.
ALTERNATIVES:
If the IGA is not approved, the design of the trail underpass project will likely not move forward without Littleton’s contributions and participation.
PROPOSED MOTION:
Proposed Motion
I move to approve Resolution 27-2025 approving an Intergovernmental Agreement with Arapahoe County and the City of Centennial, for design, right-of-way acquisition, and utility relocation for the High Line Canal Underpass at South Broadway and East Arapahoe Road.