Discussion and possible action to: (a) adopt RES. 2021-02 approving an Intergovernmental Agreement with Maricopa County; and (b) approve an Intergovernmental Agreement with Maricopa County with the purpose to improve the reliability of communications and expand communications bandwidth along Bell Road at existing Maricopa County Department of Transportation, the City of Surprise, and the City of Peoria traffic signals.

Maricopa County (County), acting through Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), is a co-lead of AZTech, a regional traffic management partnership in the Phoenix Metropolitan area that guides the application of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies for managing regional traffic. Through AZTech, the Bell Road Communications Enhancements Project was generated. The purpose of this project is to improve the reliability of communications and expand communications bandwidth along Bell Road at existing MCDOT, City of Surprise, and City of Peoria traffic signals. The project will also address existing damaged fiber and upgrade the fiber capacity and bandwidth to improve communications connectivity to City of Surprise and City of Peoria Traffic Management Centers (TMCs). In addition, the project will improve the reliability of this critical portion of the Regional Community Network (RNC) along Bell Road.

The proposed improvements consist of installing ITS infrastructure consisting of replacing existing fiber with new fiber optic cabling, rehabilitating conduit and pull boxes, and upgrading ethernet switches. This project will also replace existing backbone ethernet switches at the City of Surprise and City of Peoria Traffic Management Centers (TMCs) and install two new node cabinets along the eight-mile corridor with high bandwidth switches.

This is a multi-jurisdictional project located within Maricopa County, City of Peoria, and City of Surprise. The project is approximately 8 miles along Bell Road from State Route 101 Loop (SR 101 L) to Litchfield Road (7.0 miles) and along Litchfield Road to Statler Street (0.70 miles) and along Statler Street to the City of Surprise Traffic Management Center (TMC) (0.03 miles).The terms of the IGA are as follows:  

The County will:

• Be the lead agency on all construction and construction management, and shall provide certification of right-of-way with the assistance of the City.

• Request from the City any necessary right-of-way, utility and environmental clearance background information.

• Provide design and installation documents to the City for review in a timely manner.

• Apply for no-cost permits for project work within the City boundaries.

• Notify and work with the appropriate City staff to obtain access to the City's infrastructure.

• Receive and administer the project federal-aid funding for the duration of the project.

• Invoice the City in the amount of $29,924 upon issuance of Construction Notice to Proceed, but not before July 1, 2021.

• Provide the construction documents for the project to the City's representative when completed.

The City will:

• Provide the County any necessary right-of-way, utility and environmental clearance background information.

• Provide timely review of all design and installation documents provided by the County. The City shall provide comments to the County within 30 calendar days after receiving documents for review from the County.

• Issue the County no-cost permits for project work within the City boundaries.

• Have a technician on site during all installations, removals, maintenance and repairs of the City owned and operated ATMS communications and peripheral equipment in or attached to the City owned traffic signals, control cabinets and enclosures.

• Within 30 days of receiving the invoice from the County, the City shall contribute the local match requirement of $29,924. The City shall own, operate and maintain the equipment installed within the City's jurisdiction as part of this project upon completion of the project.

Implementation is expected to begin in spring 2022 and be completed by summer 2022.

The County prepared a design concept report (DCR) for this project. This project has been approved and included in MAG’s Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) for Federal Fund obligation in 2021. 

A: Adopt the resolution to approve the IGA with the County to improve the reliability of communications and expand communications bandwidth along Bell Road at existing MCDOT, City of Surprise, and City of Peoria traffic signals.

B: Deny the adoption of the resolution to approve the IGA with the County to improve the reliability of communications and expand communications bandwidth along Bell Road at existing MCDOT, City of Surprise, and City of Peoria traffic signals. This will result in the elimination of the City’s share of the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant.

Staff recommends the adoption of the resolution approving an Intergovernmental Agreement with Maricopa County and the approval of an Intergovernmental Agreement with Maricopa County to improve the reliability of communications and expand communications bandwidth along Bell Road at existing MCDOT, City of Surprise, and City of Peoria traffic signals.

The project is funded from local and federal funds through the MAG TIP. The total project cost in the MAG TIP is $966,208, with a combined partner agency match of $152,674.  Per the IGA, the funding sources are as follows:

1.  Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Funds (CMAQ) – $813,534 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

2.  Highway User Revenue Funds (HURF) and local revenues – $152,674 Local Match, distributed proportionally between the participating agencies as follows: 

Maricopa County        $51,451

City of Peoria              $29,924

City of Surprise           $71,299

The City’s portion of this agreement is $29,924. Funding is available in the FY2022 Traffic Signal Interconnect Program budget account 7010-7075-543001-CIPTC-PW00133.