BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: AB 2098
          SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN               AUTHOR:  Miller
                                                         VERSION: 8/20/10
          Analysis by:  Jennifer Gress                   FISCAL:  yes
          Hearing date:  August 30, 2010










          SUBJECT:

          Design-build on State Highway Route (SR) 91 in Riverside County

          DESCRIPTION:

          This bill authorizes the Riverside County Transportation  
          Commission (RCTC) to use the design-build method of procurement  
          for its SR 91 Corridor Improvement Project.

          ANALYSIS:

          Design-build refers to a procurement process in which both the  
          design and construction of a project are procured from a single  
          entity.  Design-build stands in contrast to the traditional  
          design-bid-build contracting method whereby work on a project is  
          divided into two separate phases: design and construction. The  
          government agency is responsible for the design of the project,  
          either by designing it itself or by contracting with a private  
          entity to do so.  When designs are completed, the agency  
          solicits bids from the construction industry and hires the  
          responsible low bidder to build the project.  Design-build  
          combines these two phases into a single, comprehensive contract.  
           

          Senate Bill 4, Second Extraordinary Session, Chapter 2, Statutes  
          of 2009, authorized the California Department of Transportation  
          (Caltrans) to utilize the design-build method of procurement for  
          10 state highway, bridge, or tunnel projects and it authorized a  
          local transportation agency to utilize design-build on five  
          local street or road, bridge, tunnel, or 




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          public transit projects within the jurisdiction of the local  
          agency, if approved by the 
          California Transportation Commission (CTC).
           
           This bill  :  

           Authorizes RCTC, a local agency, to utilize design-build for  
            the SR 91 Corridor Improvement Project, thereby increasing the  
            number of design-build projects authorized under SB 4 from 15  
            to 16.

           Stipulates that Caltrans shall be responsible for construction  
            inspection services for the project, including, but not  
            limited to, surveying, testing the materials, verification  
            testing, monitoring of environmental compliance, quality  
            control inspection, and quality assurance audits.

           Requires that there be a direct reporting relationship between  
            the inspectors and senior Caltrans engineers responsible for  
            construction inspection services.

           Specifies that the senior Caltrans engineer responsible for  
            construction inspection services shall be responsible for the  
            acceptance or rejection of work.

           Provides that Caltrans may use department employees or private  
            consultants to perform construction inspection services.

           Provides that Caltrans shall ensure that public safety and  
            convenience is maintained whenever work is performed under an  
            encroachment permit within the state highway right-of-way and  
            authorizes Caltrans to stop the contractor's operation wholly  
            or in part when public safety is jeopardized.  

           Requires that the resources necessary for the performance of  
            construction inspection services on this project shall be  
            included in Caltrans' capital outlay support program in the  
            annual Budget Act.

           Requires RCTC, not later than July 1 two years after the  
            design-build contract is awarded and each July 1 thereafter,  
            to submit a report on the progress of the project and its  
            compliance with the provisions of this bill to the  
            transportation policy committees in each house of the  
            Legislature.      
          




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          COMMENTS:

           1.Purpose and background  .  RCTC is seeking to use design-build  
            because combining design and construction under a single  
            entity will allow construction on some elements of the project  
            to commence while design on other elements is ongoing, thus  
            accelerating overall project completion by an estimated three  
            to five years.  Combining both under a single entity also  
            allows for greater cost and schedule certainty than  
            traditional design-bid-build. RCTC argues that congestion on  
            SR 91 in Riverside County is so great that the public interest  
            is best served by accelerating project completion to the  
            extent possible. 

            In September 2009, CTC adopted guidelines to implement  
            design-build under SB 4 that allowed local agencies to develop  
            projects on the state highway system.  The Professional  
            Engineers in California Government (PECG) objected to the  
            guidelines at the time on the premise that SB 4 only  
            authorized Caltrans to use design-build on the state highway  
            system.  Nevertheless, in April 2010, CTC approved RCTC's  
            request to use design-build for its SR 91 Corridor Improvement  
            Project.  Since that time, PECG has threatened to litigate if  
            RCTC proceeds with design-build.  This bill is needed to give  
            RCTC unambiguous authority to use design-build for the SR 91  
            project.  

            RCTC and PECG have worked for several months to address some  
            of PECG's concerns regarding the assignment of certain  
            responsibilities and have come to agreement on a "hybrid"  
            model of construction management that assigns construction  
            inspection services to Caltrans.  This bill reflects that  
            agreement.

            Under this "hybrid" model, Caltrans, rather than the local  
            agency, is responsible for performing what are referred to as  
            "boots-on-the-ground" construction inspections.  These  
            inspectors, whether Caltrans personnel or consultants under  
            contract with Caltrans, will report directly to a senior  
            Caltrans engineer and the resident engineer employed by or  
            under contract with RCTC, as opposed to reporting only to the  
            local agency resident engineer.  
           
            Staff notes that the parties involved - RCTC, PECG, and  
            Caltrans - agree that the SR 91 Corridor Improvement Project  
            is a unique project and this "hybrid" model should not  




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            necessarily be considered a model to deploy on future  
            projects.
           
          2.The SR 91 Corridor Improvement Project  .  SR 91 is the only  
            major surface transportation facility connecting Orange and  
            Riverside counties and is the primary commuting route between  
            the two counties.  A portion of SR 91 in Orange County has  
            five general purpose lanes and two tolled express lanes.  The  
            express lanes end at the Orange/Riverside county line.  

            SR 91 in Riverside County currently has four general purpose  
            lanes and one high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane in each  
            direction, with those lanes varying in width from 11 to 12  
            feet.  The SR 91 Corridor Improvement Project extends the  
            express lanes east eight miles from the Orange/Riverside  
            county line to SR 15 in Riverside County.  The resulting  
            facility will consist of five general purpose lanes and two  
            express lanes, all with a standard 12-foot width.  (At most  
            times of day, high-occupancy vehicles, defined for the SR 91  
            express lanes as vehicles having three or more occupants, may  
            use the express lanes for free.)

            The SR 91 Corridor Improvement Project also includes the  
            reconstruction of six interchanges with major arterial roads  
            in the City of Corona, a collector/distributor system of roads  
            that run parallel to the freeway lanes to facilitate vehicles  
            merging on and off the freeway, improvements to SR 15 between  
            the Ontario Avenue interchange and SR 91, and direct  
            connectors from SR 91 to southbound SR 15.

            The project is currently about 2/3 of the way through the  
            environmental review process.  RCTC anticipates issuing the  
            request for proposals for design-build contractors in February  
            2011 and awarding a contract in January 2012.  Construction is  
            expected to be completed by late 2015.  
           
          Assembly Votes:
               Floor:    73-0
               Trans:    12-0

          POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the Committee before noon on  
          Friday, 
                     August 27, 2010)

               SUPPORT:  Riverside County Transportation Commission  
          (sponsor)




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                         California Chamber of Commerce
                         CH2M Hill
                         Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce
                         Monday Morning Group
                         Orange Chamber of Commerce
                         Orange County Business Council
                         Orange County Transportation Authority
                         Self-Help Counties Coalition
                         Southern California Contractors Association
                         Western Riverside Council of Governments
          
               OPPOSED:  None received.