MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: Mary Waldron, Executive Director, Brockton 21st Century Corp.

Kathleen McCabe, AICP, EDP June 25, 2011 Downtown Streetscape Project Update and Next Steps

Background: The City of Brockton received an earmark for $2,000,000 in the Transportation Improvement (TI) section of the 2005 SAFETEA-LU federal transportation authorization law. The legislative purpose of the $2,000,000 is for Design and construct downtown roadway and streetscape improvements in Brockton. This earmark is 6 years old. It is earmark 178-MA-214. Congress has been threatening to rescind all unobligated earmarks that are older than three years. The City needs to act to obligate these funds by authorizing expenditure of local match and the federal funds upon receipt of a contract. MassDOT-Boston has also expressed serious concern about the potential loss of this earmark. Match Requirement. All FHWA TI funds have a 20% match requirement, thus creating an overall $2.5 million project budget. MassDOT will provide the 20% match for the construction portion, which it will also administer. The City must provide the local non-federal match for design/ engineering, and cover the cost of any easements or rights-of-way acquisition. At this time, no easements or rights-of-way are anticipated. Municipal Match Requirement. The City as authorized by MassDOT solicited Request for Proposals for engineering and design services this spring. The City has made a preliminary contract award to the BSC Group, subject to final approval by MassDOT and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The BSC Group has submitted a cost proposal in the amount of $363,648.59. The federal share of this would be $290,919. The local share is $72,730. It is my understanding that the City of Brockton intends to use 40R funds for the local match. These funds will need to be formally authorized for use and available for the BSC contract. Funding Contract for Federal Fund Portion. MassDOT, as the administrator of federal transportation funding in MA, will be issuing the City of Brockton a contract for the expenditure of FHWA-Transportation Improvement funding for design and engineering. This will be a reimbursement contract, meaning that the City will need to expend funds first, and then seek reimbursement from the state per the contract. The scope of work for the Downtown Brockton Streetscape and Roadway project and the procurement process have been reviewed and approved by MassDOT by both District 5 and Boston. The project is currently under review at FHWA. Once it is approved by FHWA, MassDOT will issue and send a contract to the City of Brockton for execution. Upon execution of the contract by the City and MassDOT, the City can authorize the design engineer to proceed. The target date for receiving a contract from MassDOT is early-mid July, but that is dependent upon completion of a timely FHWA review. Scope of Work: The streetscape design and engineering contract will be focusing on brighter lighting downtown particularly on Main Street and the railroad underpasses; street repaving/upgrades, sidewalk improvements, streetscape and plantings downtown. Two illustrative maps highlighting the improvements are attached.
Attachments (2) McCabe Enterprises 12 Primrose Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02131-1616 Phone: 617 469-9444 Fax 617 469-1765 mccabe@Plan-Do.com