BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 652 (Cooley) - State Highway Route 16: relinquishment
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|Version: June 16, 2015 |Policy Vote: T. & H. 10 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: July 6, 2015 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 652 would authorize the California Transportation
Commission (CTC) to relinquish specified portions of State
Highway Route (SR) 16 to the County of Sacramento and the City
of Rancho Cordova.
Fiscal
Impact: Unknown one-time costs ranging from minor up to $5-8
million to the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) prior to
the relinquishment of the designated segments of SR 16 (State
Highway Account). These costs would be offset in future years
due to avoided maintenance costs on the relinquished segments.
AB 652 (Cooley) Page 1 of
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Background: The Legislature has provided statutory authorization to CTC to
relinquish a number of state highway segments to local
jurisdictions under specified conditions. Relinquishment
provides the recipient agency with greater control over local
transportation projects and relieves Caltrans of any further
responsibility to improve, maintain, or repair infrastructure
related to the relinquished segment of state highway.
Generally, relinquishments are subject to terms and conditions
of agreements between Caltrans and a local jurisdiction seeking
control of a local highway segment. CTC must determine that the
agreement for relinquishment, which has typically involved a
one-time payment of State Highway Account funds to the local
entity, is in the best interests of the state.
Historically, Caltrans has annually set aside $12 million of
State Highway Operations and Protection Plan (SHOPP) funding for
rehabilitation necessary for highway relinquishments. In recent
years, however, Caltrans has not set aside funding to
rehabilitate relinquished highways.
Proposed Law:
AB 652 would authorize CTC, upon a determination that the
terms and conditions are in the best interests of the state, to
relinquish the following segments of SR16, as specified:
The westbound lanes of SR 16 between Sunrise Boulevard
and Grant Line Road to the City of Rancho Cordova.
The portion of SR 16 within the unincorporated area of
the county that is between Watt Avenue and 0.2 miles east
of Grant Line Road to Sacramento County, except the
westbound lands proposed for relinquishment to Rancho
Cordova.
The relinquished segments would cease to be a part of the state
highway system, and would be ineligible for future adoption as a
state highway. Rancho Cordova and Sacramento County would be
responsible for installing signs directing motorists to the
continuation of SR 16 and for applying for approval of a
business route designation for the relinquished segments, as
specified.
In addition, the bill requires Sacramento County to:
Maintain the Surface Transportation Assistance Act truck
AB 652 (Cooley) Page 2 of
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route designation.
Ensure the continuity of traffic flow, including any
traffic signal progression.
Administer the operation and maintenance of the roadway
consistent with professional traffic engineering standards.
Ensure that appropriate traffic studies or analyses will
be performed to substantiate decisions affecting traffic on
the roadway.
Finally, the bill includes legislative intent that Sacramento
County notify and consult with the Amador County Transportation
Commission, the Counties of Amador, Calaveras, and Alpine, the
Cities of Plymouth, Amador City, Sutter Creek, and Jackson, and
other relevant parties about any proposed relinquishment of SR
16 to Sacramento County.
Related
Legislation: AB 1957 (Dickinson, Ch. 95/2014) authorized CTC to
relinquish to the City of Sacramento the portion of SR 16 within
the city limits and to relinquish to the County of Sacramento
the portion of SR 16 within the unincorporated area of the
county that is east of the city boundary and west of Watt
Avenue.
Staff notes that the Governor proposed budget trailer bill
language this year that is intended to broaden and streamline
the state process for relinquishing state highway routes that
are deemed to no longer serve an interregional purpose, and
instead operate primarily as regional or local routes. The
Senate Budget Subcommittee #2 rejected the trailer bill proposal
at its hearing on April 16, 2015, without prejudice, so that it
could be considered instead by the Senate Transportation and
Housing Committee.
SB 254 (Allen), currently pending in the Assembly Transportation
Committee, is the legislative vehicle for the trailer bill
language. That bill would establish procedures for the
administrative relinquishment of state highway segments that do
not serve an interregional purpose.
AB 652 (Cooley) Page 3 of
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Staff
Comments: Relinquishment of this segment of SR 16 would allow
Sacramento County to assume direct control of the roughly 8.4
miles of roadway in the unincorporated area between South Watt
Avenue and Grant Line Road. The County has planned major new
development along the corridor that consists of over 55,000 new
residential units and 19 million square feet of commercial
space. In conjunction with the new development, the County
plans to convert the current two-lane highway into a six-lane
arterial throroughfare roadway with enhanced bicycle and
pedestrian facilities. Transferring control of the roadway to
the County allows for the construction of improvements and
enhancements without the constraints of Caltrans' state highway
design standards, encroachment permit processes, and other state
requirements.
Caltrans usually provides State Highway Account funding to a
local entity that is assuming control over state highway
segments in order to bring the roadway up to a "state of good
repair," although there is no statutory obligation to do so.
The actual amounts vary for each relinquished highway segment
and are determined by a negotiation of terms and conditions
between Caltrans and the local jurisdiction, but those costs are
based upon a cost-benefit analysis covering a ten-year period,
which is included in a Project Scope Summary Report prepared for
legislative relinquishments.
Caltrans has not identified a specific cost estimate for the
relinquishment of this segment, but based on other
relinquishments, one-time costs may range from minimal up to $1
million per centerline mile of roadway depending on numerous
factors such as roadway condition, projected maintenance costs,
and any planned capital projects. The segment of SR 16
specified in the bill is approximately 8.4 miles long, so
initial costs could be minimal but may be as high as $5-8
million dollars to the extent historical costs would apply to SR
16. The relinquishment of these segments would relieve Caltrans
of any future maintenance and repair costs, resulting in unknown
long-term annual savings.
Actual costs and savings would be more certain if legislation to
authorize relinquishment followed, rather than preceded, the
completion of the cost-benefit analysis and an agreement between
Caltrans and Sacramento County. However, Caltrans does not
typically conduct the analysis and enter into negotiations until
AB 652 (Cooley) Page 4 of
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legislative authority for relinquishment has been provided.
Staff notes that SR 16 is defined in statute as an interregional
route with potentially greater significance to the state highway
system than other segments that are typically proposed for
relinquishment. Opponents in the more rural areas east of
Sacramento County have raised concerns about the potential
impacts that the proposed development and changes to the roadway
would have on traffic flow coming into the Sacramento region
along SR 16. While the addition of traffic control devices
along the corridor proposed for relinquishment and the
additional traffic expected as a result of the proposed
development will undoubtedly impact traffic flow, the
development will occur regardless of the relinquishment.
Decisions regarding the impacts that the proposed development
will have on traffic flow patterns are a local planning matter
for which input may be provided by all interested parties. The
bill includes language to ensure decisions related to roadway
and traffic configurations are based upon sound data and
appropriate standards, and to encourage collaboration with
affected jurisdictions. It should be noted that the eastern
terminus of the proposed relinquishment is at the outside border
of Sacramento County's future development boundary, which is
over 11 miles west of the Sacramento/Amador County line.
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