ACTION REQUESTED:
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Communication from the City Manager with a Request to APPROVE Submission of a "TIGER 2014" Discretionary Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the Extension of PIONEER PARKWAY, in an Amount up to $20,000,000.
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BACKGROUND: On March 3, 2014, the US Department of Transportation released a "Notice of Funding Availability" for its latest round of surface transportation discretionary grant funding, called "TIGER 2014." The TIGER program has a minimum request threshold of $10 million and is only available for projects that can begin construction quickly upon receipt of a grant. In reviewing potential City projects that meet these and other eligibility requirements, staff believes the extension of Pioneer Parkway would be the best submission. The City had applied for this same project in during the TIGER 2012 and 2013 funding rounds but was unsuccessful in its bid.
The Pioneer Parkway extension project has been discussed and planned over the past decade. The complete plan would re-align and reconstruct Pioneer Parkway between Harker and Allen; construct approximately 3.75 miles of new four-lane arterial road between Allen and Trigger Road; build a bridge over existing rail lines; and construct a new interchange at Route 6. The City received environmental clearance on this project in June 2011 and has received IDOT approval of Phase 1 engineering plans.
The total budget for the entire project exceeds $70 million. Given both the financial and programmatic constraints of the TIGER 2014 grant, staff has segmented the project into four sections. The attached map shows the following segments (color in parentheses below corresponds to map color):
1. Harker to Radnor (green)
2. Radnor to Wood Sage (red)
3. Wood Sage to Orange Prairie (blue)
4. Orange Prairie to Trigger (orange)
The City's TIGER 2014 application will request funding for the first (Harker to Radnor) and third (Wood Sage to Orange Prairie)...
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