ACTION REQUESTED:
Title
Communication from the City Manager with a Request to APPROVE Submission of a "TIGER 2015" Application for DISCRETIONARY GRANT, in an Amount up to $22,000,000.00, from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the EXTENSION OF PIONEER PARKWAY. [District 5]
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BACKGROUND: On April 3, 2015, the US Department of Transportation released a "Notice of Funding Availability" for its latest round of competitive surface transportation discretionary grants called Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) for 2015. 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 the grant. In reviewing potential City projects that meet these and other eligibility requirements, Staff believes the extension of Pioneer Parkway would be an appropriate submission. The City has applied for this same project during the TIGER 2012, 2013 and 2014 funding rounds, but was unsuccessful in those requests.
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 Roads; build a bridge over existing rail lines; and construct a new interchange at IL 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 $72 million. Given both the financial and programmatic constraints of the TIGER 2015 grant program, 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)
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