Pasadena’s Department of Transportation is seeking to amend a contract that would supply additional preliminary engineering, preparation of plans, and other design modifications for the city’s Union Street Two-way Protected Bikeway project.
As part of the consent calendar, the City Council will vote on the contract for DKS Associates, a national, employee-owned transportation planning and transportation engineering firm. The contract could increase by $93,450, for a total amount of $1,093,164, for
The original contract was awarded in August 2017 for an amount not to exceed $999,714. The project design process began in 2018, with procedures for monitoring and review set periodically based on public input.
The Transportation Department solicited public review and input during community design workshops coinciding with each project design milestone. After two design workshops on May 9, 2018 and on May 2 the department continued to receive stakeholder input throughout the process.
According to the department’s Agenda Report for Monday’s City Council meeting, the Accessibility and Disability Commission suggested improvements on the intersection crosswalk ramps beyond current ADA requirements, such as dual curb ramps at each intersection corner of heavily pedestrian trafficked intersections.
Current intersections along Union Street have only one curb ramp at each intersection corner. The report said dual curb ramps enhance accessibility for the disabled community by allowing pedestrians to move directly towards the crosswalk rather than having to travel down through a circuitous route before turning towards their intended direction.
Reviewing the request, city staff found that improving pedestrian curb ramps at select project intersections with pronounced pedestrian activity will have a worthwhile benefit.
Staff selected key intersections for these improvements, and determined that the improvements would require additional design work that was not identified in the original contract.
The cost for the additional design work would be $53,450, the report said. Since the current contract with DKS Associates does not have a contingency budget for additional work, the Transportation Department is seeking approval to increase the contract amount by $93,450.
This increase accounts for $53,450 in additional preliminary engineering, preparation of plans, and other design modifications not initially included in the scope for the Union Street Two-way Protected Bikeway project, plus a contingency amount of $40,000, or approximately four percent of the original contract amount.
The Transportation Department said a total of $93,450 in Traffic Reduction Fees have already been allocated to the project under the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and will be utilized for this action.
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