ACTION REQUESTED:
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Communication from the City Manager and Director of Public Works with a Request to AUTHORIZE Staff to Submit an APPLICATION for the FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION'S LOCAL EMPOWERMENT FOR ACCELERATING PROJECTS (LEAP) PILOT PROGRAM. (All Council Districts)
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BACKGROUND: The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has announced a nationwide Solicitation for Interest and Participation in a Direct Aid Pilot Program. The Local Empowerment for Accelerating Projects (LEAP) Pilot Program will permit, on an experimental basis, direct delivery of federal-aid funding for up to five Local Public Agencies (LPAs). Selected LPAs will enter into agreements with their respective State DOTs and FHWA under Section 1420 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) that will set forth the terms of the parties' responsibilities, and the amount of Federal-aid highway funds to be transferred to the LPA from the state's apportionment.
The solicitation period has a very short turnaround time, with applications for the program due to be received by November 25, 2016. Staff anticipates a six-month FHWA review period for applications.
In effect, the LEAP program will remove the intermediary level of oversight and approval between the funding source (FHWA) and the LPA. Public Works staff believes there is significant time savings in this approach, which will translate to cost savings and more efficient project delivery. For example, if the City holds a contract, rather than the State of Illinois (IDOT), the contractor will likely get paid weeks, if not months sooner. This may improve efficiency in contractor bids. Additionally, state processes that typically take 3 months per limited-item review could be accelerated to shorter review periods with direct City-FHWA discussions. Finally, Public Works is highly interested in working toward even more innovations to stretch funding for roads, which may be hind...
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