To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Aaron Monks, Project Manager, Public Works Department
Title
Resolution Approving an Amendment to Increase the Purchase Order for the Construction Contract Between the Town of Castle Rock and Concrete Express, Inc. for the SH-86 Founders Parkway & Crowfoot Valley Road Intersection Improvement Project [item added to the agenda on April 17, 2020]
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary
The Town Council adopted a resolution, approving a construction agreement between the Town of Castle Rock and Concrete Express, Inc., in March of 2019. This resolution authorized the expenditure of up to $3,900,000 for the project. Any expenditure beyond that amount required approval by the Town Council. As with any construction project, changes to the work are required due to field conditions. On this project, there was a significant amount of unforeseen repairs and adjustments to storm sewer pipe running under Crowfoot Valley Road, additional areas of needed subgrade stabilization, relocation of existing utilities, and unanticipated work related to street light installation. These items affected the overall cost, and these changes were not anticipated in the original contract amount. Staff is requesting approval of a resolution authorizing an increase to the contingency amount by the expenditure of $200,000 to cover these additional costs. This amount represents a 5% increase over the approved amount and brings the total project encumbrance to $4,100,000. Funds for this amount will come from the Transportation Capital Fund. There is sufficient Fund balance available to cover this increase.
Discussion
Construction of the SH-86 Founders Parkway & Crowfoot Valley Road Intersection Improvement Project began in April of 2019. The project involved the widening of Crowfoot Valley Road, addition of turn lanes and through lanes at the intersection with Founders Parkway, the addition of stormsewer collection systems, and modifications to the intersection signalization and signage and the addition of street lighting.
On all construction projects, it is anticipated that once construction begins, field conditions will be encountered that will require modifications, changes, additions, and alterations to the work identified in the contract. The Town attempts to cover the costs associated with these changes by including contingency funds in the contract award amount. Contingency amounts are best estimates based on historical assessment on similar projects, as well as estimations from the design firm. These initial estimates strive to be fairly conservative, but not overly so. Because of the uniqueness of each project, it is possible for contingency needs to change based on these unique aspects.
The changes necessary for the SH-86 Founders Parkway & Crowfoot Valley Road Intersection Improvement Project were quite substantial, and it was not until the final paving that staff determined that the project costs would exceed the contingency amount.
One major impact to the project was the relocation of CDOT Signal fiber along the north side of Founders Pkwy from Crowfoot Valley Road to Woodlands Blvd. The fiber was not identified during design discovery, but was found to be in a location that would be under the new pavement widening being completed with this project. Per CDOT mandate, the traffic signal fiber is not allowed under pavement. The second major impact was the installation of conduit to accommodate the street light infrastructure. The conduit required to run the wire to light the street lights was not included in the approved plans. There was also sub-grade stabilization that needed to be performed prior to the paving operations. Investigation of the soils during the design process did not indicate the presence of any substantial soft areas, and the contract contained only minimal stabilization quantities. Large portions of the underlying soils were unacceptable and had to be removed and replaced with suitable material. Modifications to the storm sewer due to utility conflicts also impacted the final project costs. All of these items are necessary to complete the project. The project is targeted for completion by the end of May.
The need for safety improvements at the intersection of Founders Parkway and Crowfoot Valley Road was identified in the Town’s 2011 Transportation Master Plan and the Meadows/Founders Corridor Improvement Project Traffic Technical Report, dated July 2012. The Town identified this need to CDOT (Founders Parkway is CO Highway 86.) CDOT indicated that they did not have sufficient funding to address the problem on their own and suggested a partnership. In 2016, the Town applied for, and was granted $1,602,000 in CDOT FASTER Safety Mitigation funding with the objective to address safety concerns and crash history at the intersection. The Town funded the remaining portion of the partnership with funding from impact fees.
Budget Impact
We have received final project quantities and identified that there are insufficient funds approved within the Transportation Capital Fund to cover the cost of the work. Staff is requesting that the Town Council authorize the expenditure of additional funds to cover these costs.
The additional contingency amount needed to cover the additional cost is shown below. Staff has verified with Finance that the Transportation Capital Fund has sufficient funds available.
Fund Name Account Amount
Transportation 135-3175-431.78-39 $200,000
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Town Council authorize expenditure of funds to cover the cost of additional work performed as indicated above.
Proposed Motion
“I move to approve the Resolution as introduced by title.”
Attachments
Attachment A: Resolution