That the City Council:
A.  Approve and authorize the City's on-call traffic engineering firm, AGA Engineers, Inc. to conduct a comprehensive Safety Assessment Study of Hacienda Road; and,

B. Authorize the City Manager to increase AGA Engineers, Inc.'s Purchase Order in an amount not-to-exceed $67,470 to conduct a comprehensive Safety Assessment Study of Hacienda Road; and, 

C. Authorize the City Manager to increase AGA Engineers, Inc.'s Purchase Order by an additional $35,000 to continue providing general traffic engineering services on an as-needed basis.

In February of this year, Mayor Pro Tem Medrano emailed staff requesting that "in light of the recent traffic fatality along Hacienda Rd. north of Whittier Blvd, I would like to see if we can have a traffic safety assessment report addressing additional measures we can implement". This request was later seconded via email by Councilmember Nigsarian. During that same period of time, several residents expressed similar concerns to the City regarding pedestrian and vehicular safety along Hacienda Road from Whittier Boulevard to the north City limit. To address these concerns, staff is proposing to conduct a comprehensive road safety assessment of Hacienda Road.

At the request of staff, AGA Engineers, Inc. ("AGA"), the City's on-call Traffic Engineering Consultant, submitted a detailed proposal, in an amount not-to-exceed $67,470, to conduct the study. The safety assessment would include a review of collision history, engineering studies, traffic survey, roadway signing and striping, side street sight distance analyses, speed limits and measured speed statistics, pedestrian accessibility, and traffic signal equipment assessment at the signalized intersection of Hacienda Road and Sansinena Lane. The intersection of Whittier Boulevard and Hacienda Road will not be included in the proposed safety assessment, as this intersection is owned and operated by the State Department of Transportation ("Caltrans"). While the City has no jurisdictional control over the layout or operation of the intersection, staff will request Caltrans to evaluate the intersection for possible improvements.

If approved by City Council, and upon issuance of the notice to proceed, AGA indicated that they can initiate the study immediately and can complete the study in approximately 12 weeks. Separate from the proposed traffic assessment, staff has already initiated the process to have additional streetlights installed along Hacienda Road, which should occur within the next few months. The proposed comprehensive road safety assessment study will summarize work tasks, findings and recommendations in a final report to provide staff with options and traffic management elements that could improve roadway and pedestrian safety on Hacienda Road.

Staff recommends that the City Council authorize an increase of AGA's existing Fiscal Year 24/25 Purchase Order in the amount of $67,470 to conduct the requested road safety assessment study, and to also increase AGA's Purchase Order by an additional $35,000 for continued professional engineering services for traffic and transportation engineering, traffic committee, transportation planning, development planning, plan check services and addressing traffic concerns through the balance of the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 2025. If approved by City Council, staff will increase AGA's purchase order by $102,470 for both the Hacienda Road traffic assessment and to fund general traffic engineering services, as needed.

If approved by City Council, staff will increase AGA's Purchase Order by $102,470 to fund the comprehensive Safety Assessment Study for Hacienda Road, and to provide for additional general traffic engineering services through the end of FY 24/25 on an as-needed basis. There are sufficient savings in the Engineering Division's adopted General Fund operating budget to fund these additional costs; therefore, no additional budget appropriation is being requested at this time.