REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
May 24, 2022
FROM
BRENDON BIGGS, Director, Department of Public Works - Transportation
SUBJECT
Title
Senate Bill 1 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account Project List for 2022-23
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Adopt Resolution to approve the Senate Bill 1 Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account project list for 2022-23.
(Presenter: Brendon Biggs, Director, 387-7906)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Ensure Development of a Well-Planned, Balanced, and Sustainable County.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Create, Maintain and Grow Jobs and Economic Value in the County.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The recommended action proposes the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) 2022-23 project list for approval. The RMRA project list identifies road maintenance projects on which the County will allocate revenues provided by Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. RMRA funds are subject to Maintenance of Effort (MOE), which requires the County to spend annually at least the annual average of its General Fund expenditures for road purposes during the 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12 fiscal years. The Department of Public Works (Department) annual MOE requirement is $2.7 million, which is funded with Discretionary General Funding.
For 2022-23, the Department has identified a total of 22 projects with an estimated total cost of $40.1 million. The Department is projected to receive $39.5 million in RMRA funding. The Department continues to program more projects than the anticipated RMRA funds, which provides greater flexibility in the event that RMRA funds received exceed current estimates or allow for changes in project priorities or project delivery schedules. Sufficient appropriation and revenue are included in the Department’s 2022-23 Road Operations budget (6650002000).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Pursuant to SB 1 (specifically, Streets and Highways Code section 2034) and RMRA guidelines formally adopted by the California Transportation Commission (CTC), cities and counties must adopt and submit to the CTC an annual RMRA project list and any updates to provide a transparent process for the public to know when, where, and how much RMRA funds will be spent. Cities and counties are able to address essential maintenance needs of their road systems with SB 1 funds. The goal of this funding is to maintain roads and infrastructure in order to avoid costly reconstruction work in the future.
The quality of the roads in the County Maintained Road System are rated according to a Pavement Condition Index (PCI), which is a widely recognized standard that identifies a road’s condition using a score from 0-100, with 0 being a completely failed road and 100 being a newly paved or resurfaced road. A PCI of 80 or above is considered a road in very good condition. The PCI is calculated by the Department’s pavement management team, using a nationally standardized methodology, for each County-maintained road based on type, quantity, and severity of pavement distress. In order to utilize SB 1 funding for other transportation priorities such as bridges, drainage, and road widening projects, the Department must establish and maintain an average PCI of 80 or above for the entire road network. The County’s current network average condition score is 80, which trends downward due to the natural road deterioration rate. The Department estimates that to maintain an average network PCI score of 80, the County would need to achieve an overall network score of 83. At this score, the overall PCI would remain at or above 80, accounting for natural road deterioration. The goal of the SB 1 RMRA program is to achieve and maintain the highest PCI score possible. Once that is achieved, it costs less to maintain a roadway. This will allow less SB 1 funds to be used on maintenance and frees up SB 1 funds to be used on other transportation priorities.
Projects are selected with input from Department maintenance and operations staff and PCI scores, with priority given to projects that are safety related or where roads require immediate treatment to avoid costly future repairs and to achieve an average PCI of 80 or above for the entire road network. The highest priority is given to high volume roads, those most important to the interest of the general public, and those essential to the economic development of the County. The Department uses pavement management software to develop project lists annually based on the criteria outlined above and the amount of available funding. Projects are grouped by geographical area in order to provide more efficient project delivery.
Roads on the project list are prioritized for maintenance work based on pavement condition and pavement management software that determines when to deliver projects in the most cost efficient and effective manner. Because road deterioration accelerates after a certain time, the costs to return the road to very good condition rise exponentially. Therefore, the Department identifies which roads need rehabilitation at the optimum point in the road’s lifecycle, a point prior to exponential repair cost. The Department provides Board members and their staff with a copy of the project list for review in advance of project approval. The Department’s pavement management program allows the County to reach and sustain a road network overall pavement condition score above 80, on a scale of 1 to 100, which will allow the Department to spend it’s SB 1 funds on transportation priorities other than maintenance, as provided in the law. The Department completed the 10 road maintenance and rehabilitation projects below in fiscal year 2021-22.
|
Title |
Description |
Limits |
Cost |
|
Central Avenue |
Mill and Overlay |
Phillips Boulevard North to State Street, Montclair Area |
$628,000 |
|
Nipton Road and Other Roads |
Maintenance Overlay |
Various Roads and Locations, Nipton Area |
$1,364,000 |
|
Trona Road Phase 2 |
Maintenance Overlay |
SH 395 N/Searless Station Cutoff Road, Trona Area |
$1,313,000 |
|
Garnet Street and Other Roads |
Mill and Overlay |
Various Roads and Locations, Redlands Area |
$658,000 |
|
Bernard Drive and Other Roads |
Chip Seal; Maintenance Overlay |
Various Roads and Locations, Crestline Area |
$2,495,000 |
|
Amboy Road and Pole Line Road |
Chip Seal; Maintenance Overlay |
Various Roads and Locations, Twenty-Nine Palms Area |
$3,450,000 |
|
Sheep Creek Drive and Other Roads |
Maintenance Overlay |
Various Road and Locations, Wrightwood Area |
$2,712,000 |
|
North Shore Lane and Other Roads |
Chip Seal; Maintenance Overlay |
Various Road and Locations, Big Bear Area |
$3,602,000 |
|
Matterhorn Drive and Other Roads |
Maintenance Overlay |
Various Road and Locations, Lake Arrowhead Area |
$1,910,000 |
|
Beech Avenue |
Mill and Overlay |
Fontana Avenue to Randall Avenue, Fontana Area |
$800,000 |
|
Total Cost |
$18,932,000 |
The 2022-23 project list is attached as Exhibit A to the resolution and provides the project schedule and anticipated construction completion date.
The recommended action meets the County and the Chief Executive Officer’s goals and objectives by securing funding to maintain and preserve the County road network.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Aaron Gest, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on March 16, 2022; Finance (Carl Lofton, Administrative Analyst, 387-5404) on May 6, 2022; and County Finance and Administration (Paloma Hernandez-Barker, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on May 9, 2022.