Application for TIGER II Discretionary Grants Program City of Hercules, California Hercules Intermodal Transit Center (Hercules ITC) Contact: Lisa Hammon, Assistant City Manager City of Hercules 111 Civic Drive Hercules, CA 94547 510.799.8251 [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS Hercules ITC TIGER II Application Overview ......................................................3 I. Project Description ........................................................................................4 II. Project Parties...................................................................................................12 III. Grant Funds and Sources/Uses of Project Funds .......................................14 IV. Selection Criteria ........................................................................................16 a. Long-Term Outcomes ........................................................................16 i. State of Good Repair ..........................................................................16 ii. Economic Competitiveness................................................................16 iii. Livability.................................................................................17 iv. Sustainability..............................................................................18 v. Safety.................................................................................................. 19 b. Job Creation and Economic Stimulus................................................... 19 c. Innovation ............................................................................................... 20 d. Partnership ........................................................................................21 V. Project Readiness and NEPA ....................................................................... 22 VI. Federal Wage Rate........................................................................................ 25 VII. Changes from Pre-Application ..........................................................................25 Appendix A: Additional Information on Benefit-Cost Analysis ......................A-1 Appendix B: Letter from City Manager- Federal Wage Requirem ......................B-1 Appendix C: Index for support letters, documents and websites......................C-1 Hercules Station building circa early 1900’s Hercules ITC Page 2 Hercules ITC TIGER II Application Overview Project Type The Hercules, California Intermodal Transit The Hercules Bayfront Transit Village Center is a planned, multi-modal center with project, location of Hercules ITC, was bus, train, and ferry service at the same loca- one of only six projects in the the state tion, and traversed by the San Francisco Bay Trail that was selected as a California Catalyst for bicyclists and walkers. The station will serve Community under the State Department Amtrak intercity rail (Capitol Corridor), WestCAT of Housing and Community Development local and regional buses, and a Water Emergency Catalyst Projects for California Sustainable Transportation Authority (WETA) high-speed Strategies Pilot Program. ferry service to San Francisco. The project is The purpose of the program is to incen- truly “intermodal.” tivize sustainable communities and test innovative strategies designed to enhance Project Location transportation modal choices; increase The Hercules Intermodal Transit Center will be housing supply and affordability; improve located at the heart of the 42-acre Hercules jobs and housing relationships; stimulate Bayfront transit-oriented development project. job creation and retention; promote public The facility will be in Hercules, California in the health; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; 7th Congressional District (George Miller) and in and increase energy conservation and Senator Boxer and Senator Feinstein’s State. independence. Demographics and Unique History The City of Hercules is located on the southern shore of San Pablo Bay, 22 miles northeast of San Francisco and 57 miles southeast of Sacramento. The area around the City of Hercules includes cit- ies in Contra Costa, Solano, and Alameda Counties and is centrally-located adjacent to Interstate 80 (I-80) and State Route 4 (SR4). Incorporated in 1900 for the California Powder Works, the City was the site of a nationally significant factory for explosives and specialty chemicals until the mid-1960s. In the early 1970s, the former company town changed course to become a residential suburb, growing along with the rest of the Bay Area. The city limits encompass eight square miles of the Refugio Valley watershed, with the remnants of the decommissioned manufacturing facilities occupying a few dozen acres along the bay front. The entire city was master-planned in the early 1970s, and subsequently developed with predominantly single-family housing and a business park. Isolated locations near the Bay and lower Refugio Valley, designated “brownfields”, required remediation and soil stabilization, and so were developed after 2000, along with a former oil refinery site. Today, the City has a notably diverse population of approximately 25,000 and continues to grow incrementally, focused on commercial, biotechnology and retail. TIGER Funds Requested The City of Hercules is respectfully requesting $11,180,400 through the TIGER II Discretionary Grant Program. This request will complete the funding of the Hercules Intermodal Transit Center. The total Hercules ITC project cost is $50,200,000. The EIR/EIS for the Project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2010 with a construction duration of eighteen to twenty-four months. Hercules ITC Page 3 I. Project Description The Hercules Intermodal Transit Center project (Hercules ITC) is at the center of a transit-orient- ed, mixed-use development on approximately 40 acres of vacant land. Over the past few years, the City of Hercules has been planning and engineering the Hercules ITC which will be the first train, bus, and ferry terminal in the Western United States, providing alternative transportation modes for commuters, residents, and recreational users. The Hercules ITC consists of: roads and bridges for automobiles and buses to access the transit uses, train track and signal improvements, a station building fashioned after the historic train sheds of Europe with expansive views of the San Pablo Bay, parks and open spaces, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities including approximately one mile of San Francisco Bay Trail. Surround- ing the Hercules ITC will be 1,400 residential units, retail, and commercial office space. Hercules ITC Station and Plaza rendering with Train, Bus and Ferry Project Location The City of Hercules, California is in the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area, approximately sixteen miles north of Oakland and 57 miles southeast of Sacramento, bisected by the Interstate 80 freeway. Traffic congestion on I-80 has been the worst in the Bay Area for the past six years. Hercules is also served by State Route 4, a four lane expressway for east-west travel through Contra Costa County. The Hercules ITC is ideally situated in the I-80 corridor and the transit alternatives planned for the station would allow commuters from east of the project location to easily access buses, trains, or ferries and thereby decrease auto congestion on the freeway. Interstate 80 traffic is severe. Over 182,000 vehicles use this freeway on a daily basis. Traffic congestion south of Hercules continues to worsen as cars near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. State Route 4 carries 37,000 vehicles per day. The major arterial to I-80 is San Pablo Avenue, a mostly 4-lane “Route of Regional Significance” that traverses communities along the corridor including Crockett, Rodeo, Hercules, Pinole, San Pablo, Richmond, and El Cerrito and on into downtown Oakland. Hercules ITC Page 4 Hercules Intermodal Transit Center and Hercules Bayfront Village Project Location Hercules ITC Hercules Bayfront Transit Oriented Development Hercules ITC Page 5 Current Passenger Rail Issues and Solutions The Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) Martinez Subdivision, is a the final segment of the origi- nal transcontinental rail route, connecting Oakland, including the Port of Oakland, with the Union Pacific lines in California via Martinez. The Martinez Subdivision runs along the San Pablo Bay waterfront through the City of Hercules. In addition to the UPRR long-haul freight operations, the line is used by extensive passenger rail operations. Passenger services include long-distance, intercity Amtrak trains providing daily service between the Bay Area, the Pacific Northwest, Chicago, and Los Angeles; and the 32 daily intercity Capitol Corridor trains providing service between Sacramento and San Jose. Passenger and freight trains operate in mixed flows on the same double track route, an arrangement that poses capacity conflicts. The Hercules ITC project will provide a third mainline track for the UPRR, a significant improve- ment in this section of the rail corridor, as it will allow a full-length train that is disabled or need- ing to pull onto a siding track to use this third mainline track. Currently, the UPRR tracks in Hercules are unprotected from casual pedestrian access. Tres- passing is common, with persons crossing tracks to access the margin of the Bay. Very nearby, trespassing persons have been killed by oncoming trains. The Hercules ITC project will provide a grade-separation from the tracks for the entire length of the project, approximately one mile. Retaining walls and fencing