8.C.
City Council Meeting - FINAL
- Meeting Date:
- 05/04/2021
- From:
- Stacy Saltzburg, City Clerk
Information
TITLE:
Ratification: Surface Transportation Reauthorization Revised Project Request
STAFF RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Ratify the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Revised Project Request Letter
Executive Summary:
In mid-March, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released guidance to House offices requesting projects for the upcoming surface transportation bill. No guidance on project or funding limitations was included in this initial guidance. In response, a team comprised of City and Metroplan staff quickly put together a $46.9 million proposal for the Lone Tree Corridor (specifically focusing on existing Lone Tree Road between JW Powell Boulevard and Sawmill Road). This proposal was supported by a variety of community and state partners and would save Proposition 419 funds by allowing reallocation of funds to other projects.
More recently, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released additional guidance that limited its members to a total of $20M in requests per member. Given this limited dollar amount, City staff and lobbyists worked closely with our congressional delegation to revise our request to a new dollar amount of between $6.6 and $8 million, which the City was required to submit to Congressman O’Halleran’s office by April 22.
Due to this decreased dollar amount, City and Metroplan staff worked to narrow the scope of the Lone Tree Corridor project to focus on the section of existing Lone Tree Road from JW Powell Boulevard to Zuni Drive. Specifically, the project would add a roundabout at the Zuni and Lone Tree intersection at the entrance to Coconino Community College, widen the roadway footprint to better accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians, public transit and vehicular movements, and install conduit for fiber optic cable. If this request were to be successful, it will be 100 percent federally funded (no matching funds will be needed) and the potential authorization would provide for automatic appropriation (authorization and appropriation would happen at the same time instead of a longer two-step process). This is a rare and unique opportunity and in order to respond to this rapidly changing landscape within the short deadline given, City staff submitted a revised letter of support for the Lone Tree Corridor project request of $8M (focusing on JW Powell Boulevard to Zuni Dr) from the Flagstaff City Council to Congressman O’Halleran on April 23. City staff is requesting Council’s retroactive approval of this letter.
More recently, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released additional guidance that limited its members to a total of $20M in requests per member. Given this limited dollar amount, City staff and lobbyists worked closely with our congressional delegation to revise our request to a new dollar amount of between $6.6 and $8 million, which the City was required to submit to Congressman O’Halleran’s office by April 22.
Due to this decreased dollar amount, City and Metroplan staff worked to narrow the scope of the Lone Tree Corridor project to focus on the section of existing Lone Tree Road from JW Powell Boulevard to Zuni Drive. Specifically, the project would add a roundabout at the Zuni and Lone Tree intersection at the entrance to Coconino Community College, widen the roadway footprint to better accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians, public transit and vehicular movements, and install conduit for fiber optic cable. If this request were to be successful, it will be 100 percent federally funded (no matching funds will be needed) and the potential authorization would provide for automatic appropriation (authorization and appropriation would happen at the same time instead of a longer two-step process). This is a rare and unique opportunity and in order to respond to this rapidly changing landscape within the short deadline given, City staff submitted a revised letter of support for the Lone Tree Corridor project request of $8M (focusing on JW Powell Boulevard to Zuni Dr) from the Flagstaff City Council to Congressman O’Halleran on April 23. City staff is requesting Council’s retroactive approval of this letter.