Consider Recommending City Council Approving Plans and Specifications and Authorizing Advertisement for Bids for Autumn Heights Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #22-02

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to consider recommending City Council approving plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for Autumn Heights Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #22-02.
 
Background:
City Improvement Project 22-02 proposes to reconstruct the streets within the Autumn Heights subdivision, generally located along both sides of Armstrong Boulevard between the 167^th and 169^th blocks. The streets total approximately 8,500 linear feet (1.61 miles) in length, and are 24-foot wide rural section with drainage swales along both sides of the streets. A street segment summary is attached to this case.
 
Project History

• 2022 – 2031 Capital Improvement Program – listed as street reconstruction for 2022
• August 10, 2021 City Council accepted proposals for geotechnical report and topographic survey
• August 24, 2021 City Council accepted proposals for utility testing
• October 26, 2021 City Council ordered plans and specifications

 
Pavement History
The streets within the subdivision were built between 1977 and 1988. Pavement maintenance has included an initial round of crack seal / seal coat improvements, and overlay between 1990 and 2002, followed by 2 more rounds of crack seal / seal coat improvements in 1997 and 2004. Maintenance crews have performed patching over the last several years, including extensive spray patching. 2021 PASER values we 2 for all street segments. PASER values of 2 are as low as any street segments within the City.
 
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was performed on the street segments. Bituminous pavement thickness averages were between 3.3 and 3.9 inches thick on the various street segment. Aggregate base thickness was found to vary between 3.1 and 4.0 inches thick. The weighted average total section thickness was 7.0 inches.
 
Proposed Improvements
Staff review of the geotechnical report found the majority of sub-base material to be poorly graded sand and poorly graded sand with silt, these materials are well suited for pavement support and are considered non-frost susceptible and are also free draining materials. An approximately 600-foot section of 167^th Lane east of Armstrong Boulevard found undesirable materials in the to 3 feet of sub-base. These materials are proposed to be replaced with 2 feet of select granular material on top of geotechnical fabric. Staff is proposing to use the current standard City pavement section of 4-inches aggregate base, and 3.5-inches new bituminous pavement. The 4-inches of aggregate base is proposed to be composed of recycled reclamation material.
 
This project proposes to add a half cul-de-sac to the dead end on 169^th Avenue west of Rabbit Street. The half cul-de-sac can be constructed within the existing right-of-way on the south half of 169^th Avenue. Extensive review found no right-of-way or roadway easements currently exist for the north half of 169^th Avenue. Internal Staff discussions with public safety and public works support this proposed improvement. Any improvements beyond the existing roadway would require easements, and would have severe impacts on the property along the north side of 169^th Avenue.
 
The current swales along the streets are not proposed to be re-graded as part of this project, no issues with the drainage was discovered during project design. The existing metal culverts crossing the streets are proposed to be removed and replaced. This is to ensure the culverts will last at least through the proposed 60-year design life of the street.
 
Build Process

• Full-depth reclamation of existing bituminous pavement and aggregate base
• Project removals (driveways approximately 8 feet behind the existing edge of pavement)
• Place new concrete curb and gutter (downhill section of 167^th Lane west of Armstrong Blvd
• Remove excess reclaim material, shape and compact 4 inches of remaining material
  • Remove approximately 1.5-inches
  • Excess reclaim is stockpiled and will be used on future City projects
• Place first lift of bituminous pavement
• Finish driveway repairs
• Restore the boulevard in any impacted areas
  • 4 inches topsoil, seed and hydro-mulch
  • Due to project timing, dormant seeding may be required
• Place the final lift of bituminous pavement

 
Preliminary Schedule Remaining

• Council Approves Plans and Specifications / Authorizes Ad for Bids
  • June 28, 2022
• Staff Receives Bids
  • August 3, 2022
• Council Awards Contract to the lowest responsible bidder
  • August 9, 2022
• Contractor begins construction
  • August 2022
• Contractor Substantially Completes construction
  • October 2022
• Contractor Final Completion (verify final restoration, punch list created)
  • Spring 2023

 
Final plans are not attached to this case to prevent potential bidders from downloading plans attached to the case to prepare and submit their bids, rather than purchasing the plans through QuestCDN, the electronic bidding software used by the City of Ramsey. This ensures all bidders are bidding off the same set of plans, and all bidders are notified of any plan revisions (addenda) issued during the bidding process. Attached is the title sheet showing the scope of the improvements, as well as a plan sheet showing the typical sections, which includes information on the proposed pavement section. Plans are available upon request from the City Engineer.

Staff estimates up to 10 minutes will be needed to present this case and respond to questions.

Observations:
In 2022 the City has awarded 2 projects which draw from the Pavement Management Fund (PMF), the 2022 Neighborhood Overlays and Wood Pond Hills 2^nd – 5^th Street Reconstructions. Combined as awarded these projects will use $1,498,988 of the $1,961,420 total estimated PMF for 2022. The Finance Director has confirmed that the PMF will have sufficient funds available for the 2 awarded projects and the updated estimated cost of the Autumn Heights Street Reconstruction project.
 
An alternative “reclamation light” project design has been discussed as a way to gain useful life out of the streets. The design process would include reclamation of the existing bituminous and aggregate base, removal of 2-inches of reclamation material and placement of 2-inches new bituminous pavement. This would leave a pavement section of 2-inches bituminous pavement over approximately 5-inches recycled aggregate base. The intent of this process would be to avoid any restoration needs of the boulevards and adjacent driveways. Staff performed an estimate for this process, with the total project costs, including 10-percent contingency costs and 23-percent indirect costs, of $630,000. This is approximately 43-percent of the estimated cost of the proposed street reconstruction.
 
Alternatives:
Alternative #1 – Motion recommending City Council approving plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for Autumn Heights Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #22-02.
 
Alternative #2 – Motion of other.

Funding for this improvement is proposed to come from Pavement Management Funds and Stormwater Utility Funds.
 
Staff has completed an estimate based on the final plans and anticipated 2022 construction costs, with a total estimated project cost of $1,475,337.15, which includes 23-percent indirect costs for administrative, engineering, finance, and legal costs.
 

• Street Project Costs                $1,379,587.80
• Storm Sewer Project Costs     $95,749.35
• Total Estimated Costs             $1,475,337.15

Staff recommends Alternative #1 to maintain a consistent pavement design on all recently reconstructed streets.

Alternatively, the Committee could recommend revising the plans to include the "reclamation light" design at an estimated 43-percent cost savings.  However, these streets would then have a different design than all other recently reconstructed streets in Ramsey, which would provide a lesser pavement design strength and a shorter design life.  

Motion recommending City Council approving plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for Autumn Heights Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #22-02.