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Home My WebLink AboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 03/06/2007 - ITEMS RELATING TO CDOT'S SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PRO ITEM NUMBER: 12 A-B AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: March 6, 2007 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF: Kurt Ravenschlag SUBJECT Items Relating to CDOT's Safe Routes to School Program. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution and the Ordinance on First Reading. FINANCIAL IMPACT The total cost of this project is$44,562,of which$33,123 is being funded from CDOT's Safe Routes to School Program. This contract is for the design and construction of the project. Transportation Planning intends to use existing Pedestrian Plan funds in the amount of $11,439 to cover the additional costs of the project. Federal funds $33,123 City's Local Match $11,439 Total project Cost (2007): $44,562 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A. Resolution 2007-023 Authorizing the Execution of an Intergovernmental Agreement Between the City and the Colorado Department of Transportation for the Widening of an Existing Sidewalk on the South Side of Mulberry Street from Dunn Elementary School to Shields Street. B. First Reading of Ordinance No. 038, 2007, Appropriating Unanticipated Revenue in the Capital Projects Fund - Pedestrian Plan Capital Project for Improvements Associated with the Safe Routes to School Program. The Safe Routes to School Program was designed to promote the safety and environmental conditions for students traveling to and from school. With the hope to increase the numbers of students walking or bicycling to school, this program uses the Four E's (Education, Enforcement, Engineering, and Encouragement) to provide a comprehensive approach to traffic safety problems around schools. March 6, 2007 -2- Item No. 12 A-B The City of Fort Collins Transportation Planning office received a grant from the CDOT Safe Routes to School Program for FY 2005-06 to widen the existing sidewalk along the south side of Mulberry Street from 2.5 feet to 6 feet, from Dunn Elementary to Shields Street. This widened sidewalk will greatly improve safety and connectivity between Dunn elementary and the surrounding neighborhoods. BACKGROUND In October 2005, the City of Fort Collins and the Latimer County Safe Kids Coalition organized a Walk a Child to School Day event where staff was able to collect surveys that were distributed to parents and students of Dunn Elementary. These surveys evaluated the conditions along students' routes to school. From the surveys, staff identified one major physical obstacle that prevented children from walking to the elementary school. (See Attached map of project area). The obstacle identified is the narrow sidewalk (2.5 feet) along the south side of Mulberry Street between the school property and Shields Street. The sidewalk is also attached to a four-lane arterial street with daily traffic counts of 22,000 and no bike lane. There is also heavy vegetation along the sidewalk which forces pedestrians to walk even closer to the busy street. Due to the narrow sidewalk,most students are driven to school by parents. Other students who walk or bike are sometimes forced to use the street, especially during the winter months where narrow sidewalks along arterials such as Mulberry Street often become buried by plowed snow. This project will be constructed within City of Fort Collins right-of-way. No property needs to be purchased. Some vegetation such as bushes and grass will have to be removed and some trees will need trimming. Relocation of two school zone signals and construction of ADA compatible ramps at intersections will need to occur. The sidewalk widening and de-vegetation in areas along Mulberry Street will provide a wider,safer area for kids to walk to Dunn Elementary. ATTACHMENTS 1. Map of project area ATTACHMENTI Dunn Elementary Sidewalk Improvement a, �a h �r t:: W x k ^ r w SUICSCI AVE �� k Y .. . I 11_I'L qI a: + r i■ � ��P`vav t «.y _, rfacxFOx COx Wv.nax s.s+sx x.s snooume Legend ■ Dunn Elementary IiiiiiiiiiiIoIII Sidewalk Widening DD.Day.m ODs 003 ana ®nines RESOLUTION 2007-023 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE WIDENING OF AN EXISTING SIDEWALK ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF MULBERRY STREET FROM DUNN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO SHIELDS STREET WHEREAS,the Council has determined that the narrowness of the sidewalk along the south side of Mulberry Street extending from Dunn Elementary School to Shields Street serves as a physical obstacle that prevents children from walking to the school because the sidewalk is narrow and is attached to the street with no intervening parkway strip and because the street contains no bike lane and carries a daily traffic count of some 22,000 trips; and WHEREAS, heavy vegetation along the sidewalk further restricts its usefulness to such an extent that many parents take their children to school by automobile; and WHEREAS,the Colorado Department of Transportation("CDOT")has established a"Safe Routes to School Program"which was designed to promote the safety and healthy environmental conditions t ors for students travelingto and from school in order to enable additional oral numbers of students to walk or bicycle to school; and WHEREAS,CDOT has made available to the City the sum of$33,123 under the Safe Routes to School Program provided that the City will allocate matching funds in the sum of$11,439; and WHEREAS, the Council has determined that$11,439 can be pledged from Pedestrian Plan funds in the Transportation budget in order to enable the City to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with CDOT for the funding of this sidewalk; and WHEREAS, the Council has determined that it is in the best interests of the City that the Mayor enter into an intergovernmental agreement with CDOT for the funding of this project. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS that the Mayor is hereby authorized to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation under the "Safe Routes to School Program" for the purpose of encumbering federal funds through the Colorado Department of Transportation in the sum of$33,123, with a City local matching contribution of$11,439 for a total project cost of $44,562 to fund the widening of an existing sidewalk along the south side of Mulberry Street from Dunn Elementary School and extending west to Shields Street. Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this 6th day March, A.D. 2007. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk ORDINANCE NO. 038, 2007 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS APPROPRIATING UNANTICIPATED REVENUE IN THE CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND - PEDESTRIAN PLAN CAPITAL PROJECT FOR IMPROVEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PROGRAM WHEREAS, the Safe Routes to School Program, established by the Colorado Department of Transportation ("CDOT"), is designed to promote the safety and environmental conditions for students traveling to and from school,enabling increased numbers of students walking or bicycling to and from school; and WHEREAS, in October 2005, the City and the Larimer County Safe Kids Coalition organized a Walk a Child to School Day event and collected surveys from parents and students of Dunn Elementary School(the"School')in an effort to evaluate the conditions of routes to and from the School; and WHEREAS, results of the surveys identified a section of sidewalk along the south side of Mulberry Street between School property and Shields Street that presented an obstacle to children walking to and from the School; and WHEREAS,that section of sidewalk is onlytwo and one-half feet wide,adjacent to the street with no parkway strips and no bike lanes, and is flanked by heavy vegetation causing concern that the sidewalk is an unsafe route to the School; and WHEREAS,the City Transportation Planning Division applied for and has received a grant, in the amount of$33,123, from the CDOT Safe Routes to School Program for FY 2005-2006 (the "Program"),to be used to improve the safety conditions of the existing sidewalk along the south side of Mulberry Street from Dunn Elementary School west to Shields Street(the"Project'); and WHEREAS, the scope of improvements for the Project include widening of the sidewalk to six feet, removing existing vegetation, relocating two school zone signals, and constructing ramps at intersections as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act; and WHEREAS,the estimated cost of the Project is$44,562,and requires local matching funds, totaling$11,439; and WHEREAS, staff has identified, and recommends using, existing appropriations in the Capital Projects Fund - Pedestrian Plan capital project as the source of matching funds for the Project; and WHEREAS, on March 6,2007, City Council adopted Resolution 2007-023 authorizing the Mayor to execute an intergovernmental agreement with the Colorado Department of Transportation under the "Safe Routes to School Program" for the purpose of encumbering federal funds through the CDOT in the amount of$33,123,with a City local matching contribution of$11,439 to be used for the Project; and WHEREAS,Article V, Section 9, of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins permits the City Council to make supplemental appropriations by ordinance at any time during the fiscal year, provided that the total amount of such supplemental appropriations,in combination with all previous appropriations for that fiscal year, does not exceed the current estimate of actual and anticipated revenues to be received during the fiscal year; and WHEREAS,City staffhas determined that the appropriation of Program grant funds,totaling $33,123,will not cause the total amount appropriated in the Capital Projects Fund-Pedestrian Plan capital project to exceed the current estimate of actual and anticipated revenues to be received during the fiscal year; and WHEREAS,it is the desire of the City Council to appropriate the sum of$33,123 in Program grant funds,to be used with existing appropriations,totaling$11,439,in the Capital Projects Fund- Pedestrian Plan capital project to improve an existing sidewalk along the south side of Mulberry Street from Dunn Elementary School and extending west to Shields Street. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS that there is hereby appropriated for expenditure from unanticipated revenue in the Capital Projects Fund-Pedestrian Plan capital project,the sum of THIRTY THREE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE DOLLARS ($33,123)representing grant proceeds from the CDOT Safe Routes to School Program for FY 2005-2006, to be used with existing appropriations in the Capital Projects Fund-Pedestrian Plan capital project to improve an existing sidewalk along the south side of Mulberry Street from Dunn Elementary School and extending west to Shields Street. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 6th day of March, A.D. 2007, and to be presented for final passage on the 20th day of March, A.D. 2007. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk -2- Passed and adopted on final reading on the 20th day of March, A.D. 2007. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk -3-