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Agenda Item # 15

BOARD MEMORANDUM

RECOMMENDATION:

Authorize the General Manager to amend the contract with Brian Kangas Foulk to include additional project scope for the final design of the Route 87 South HOV Lane Widening Project, increasing the existing contract by $651,800 for a new contract value not to exceed $8,570,743.

BACKGROUND:

The 1996 Measure B Transportation Improvement Program (MBTIP) includes the widening of Route 87 for approximately five miles from Route 85 in South San Jose to Julian Street in downtown San Jose.  The widening consists of adding one High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane in the median in each direction.  The project is divided into a north and south segment.  The south segment of Route 87, the subject of this memorandum, includes the section from Route 85 to approximately I-280 and the north segment includes the section from I-280 to Julian Street. 

On June 7, 2002, the County Board of Supervisors and VTA Board of Directors approved the 1996 MBTIP FY 2003 Revenue and Expenditure Plan which included the addition of $18 million and new project scope for the congestion relief, collector distributor ramp system for the Route 87 South HOV Lane Project.  The budget for the project is $75.2 million.  On May 21, 2003, the California Transportation Commission approved GARVEE bond financing for this project.

Following Board of Directors approval in December 2001, the General Manager executed a contract with BKF for final design services for a not to exceed total value of $5,864,904.  The scope of services included the HOV lane widening and the repair of the freeway settlement damage between Willow and Curtner Roads.  Thereafter, the Board authorized the General Manager on August 1, 2002 to amend the contract by $2,054,041 for a contract value of $7,918,945.  The contract amendment of $2,054,041 included $318,233 of additional design services for the HOV lanes and $1,735,808 for design of the new scope of a collector distributor ramp system and auxiliary lane between I-280 and Almaden Expressway as approved in the 1996 MBTIP FY 2003 Revenue & Expenditure Plan. 

DISCUSSION:

VTA identified a need for additional services to complete the final design.  The recommended increase includes the following additional services:

• Landscaping Final Design ($395,100)
• Seismic retrofit per Caltrans requirement ($106,700)
• Surveying, potholing and data reports ($150,000).

The recommended contract amendment of $651,800 increases the new contract value to $8,570,743.  Final design will be completed on a cost plus fixed fee basis.  This amendment represents over 6,000 hours of service provided by the consultant team in order to complete the project design of the $51.0 million project.

Staff anticipates an additional contract amendment will be needed for this project to include design support services during construction.

ALTERNATIVES:

There are no practical alternatives to this recommendation.  Staff evaluated the potential to utilize VTA employees for this work.  However, this project requires a large, coordinated, multi-disciplined highway and structural design team that is not available within VTA.  The alternative would be to hire and develop the necessary design staff which would be subject to extreme fluctuations in work load due to the cyclical nature of highway project funding and development.  Therefore, it continues to be VTAs practice to employ outside engineering design firms for work of this type, size and duration.  VTA staff, however, remains responsible for managing the overall project, overseeing preparation of environmental documents and clearance, managing contracts, cost accounting, community outreach and legal review of all projects.      

FISCAL IMPACT:

Sufficient funding is available for this project in the 1996 Measure B Transportation Improvement Program and GARVEE bond financing.

SBE PARTICPATION

The contract currently has an established 19% goal in which the contractor has committed to 19% SBE participation.  A total of 8% has been achieved to date on this contract.  Contractor has committed to 19% SBE participation on the remainder of the contract.

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