In establishing the Regional Surface Transportation Program Competitive Grants program, the Transportation Agency is seeking to fund projects that advance the goals of the Transportation Agency Board. These include delivering projects of regional significance that improve safety, provide maintenance for existing facilities, or support the development of a multimodal transportation network utilizing the principles of Complete Streets. Fair geographic balance in distributing the funds and the cost effectiveness of the proposed projects are also taken into consideration when awarding grant funds.
The grant application is composed of four sections, each with 25 available points, for a total possible application score of 100 points. The four categories are Project Information & Regional Significance, Complete Streets, Project Readiness & Cost Effectiveness, and Prior Project Delivery Performance. The scoring for the application was designed and approved by the Transportation Agency Board to favor projects that improve regional routes with high traffic volumes, include bicycle and pedestrian facilities and safety enhancements, can be completed within the three year funding window, and support sponsors that are utilizing their Regional Surface Transportation Program fair share allocations and have a history of delivering projects within the three-year funding cycle.
In May 2020, the Technical Advisory and Bicycle & Pedestrian Committees nominated the following members to the grants review committee to review and score the applications:
- Enrique Saavedra, County of Monterey
- Andrew Easterling, City of Salinas
- Patrick Dobbins, City of Gonzales
- Orchid Monroy-Ochoa, Caltrans D5
- Jack Smith, Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Committee Chair
- D.L. Johnson, Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Committee Member
- Martin Wegenstein, Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Committee Member
- Mike Zeller, TAMC Staff
The Transportation Agency received ten completed grant applications, totaling over $27.6 million in requested Regional Surface Transportation Program grant funding. Each application was reviewed and scored by five committee members. The attached summary sheet provides an overview of the projects submitted for consideration, and how the applications were scored by the review committee. After considering the scores and factoring in geographic equity and cost effectiveness, the following projects are recommended by Agency staff for grant funding in ranked order:
- Salinas - Boronda Road Congestion Relief Project - $4,000,000
- Salinas - Bardin Road Safe Routes to School - $1,800,000
- King City - Complete Streets Downtown Streetscape - $950,000
- Monterey - Traffic System, Pedestrian/Bike Upgrades - $1,680,000
- Salinas - Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements - $545,000
- Pacific Grove - Point Pinos Trail Project - $382,000
- Greenfield - Walnut Avenue Pedestrian/Bike Improvements - $590,000
- Seaside - Broadway Avenue Corridor Improvements - $600,000
For the Broadway Avenue Corridor Improvements Project, the City of Seaside requested $4.2 million in competitive funds and ranked this as its top priority. The project scored lower than other submitted projects, primarily since the project has not completed the environmental phase and has not secured its matching funds. While there was not sufficient funding available to meet the project's full request, staff is recommending funding the environmental phase of the project at $600,000. The General Jim/Coe Avenue project scored only slightly higher but is the second priority for the City of Seaside, so the Broadway improvements are being recommended instead.
The total amount of projects recommended for funding is $10.547 million, which is in excess of the fund estimate approved by the Transportation Agency Board of $10.11 million. Staff is also proposing to deprogram projects from the prior competitive cycle that have been completed but have remaining balances of funds or have not been started in the three-year program cycle. The list of projects proposed for deprogramming is attached. Staff has presented this proposal to the Technical Advisory Committee. Of the proposed projects for deprogramming, the City of Monterey has requested to retain $25,000 of awarded funds to the Holman Highway Roundabout project to complete final survey work. The remaining balance of funds on that project would be deprogrammed.
The proposed deprogramming of projects would add $1.3 million to the competitive pot, for a total amount of $11.39 million. The staff-recommended program of projects would leave a balance of $843,771; this amount would not fully fund any of the remaining projects. In prior cycles, Agency staff has worked with the jurisdictions to identify phases of projects on which to use unprogrammed competitive funds, and has brought supplemental funding recommendations to the Board for approval as projects are ready.