Title
Approval of a Cooperative Use, Maintenance and Lighting Agreement between the County and the New Mexico Department of Transportation regarding the Canyon Rim Trail Underpass Project.
Recommended Action
I move that Council approve the Cooperative Use, Maintenance and Lighting Agreement between the Incorporated County of Los Alamos and the New Mexico Department of Transportation regarding the Canyon Rim Trail Underpass.
Manager's Recommendation
The County Manager recommends that Council approve the motion as presented.
Body
The County is planning the Canyon Rim Trail Underpass project which will cross NM 502 at the trailhead near Camino Entrada. The project was awarded design and construction funding through a Transportation Alternatives Program grant through NMDOT and will cross through NMDOT Right-of-Way. This project will provide a safe link for pedestrians and bicyclists between the trail on the south and commercial and recreational amenities to the north of NM 502.
As the proposed trail underpass will traverse NMDOT right-of-way, NMDOT prepared the attached agreement to define the commitments and roles of the NMDOT and the County related to the operation and maintenance of the trail. A copy of the agreement (Attachment A) has been approved by NMDOT’s General Counsel and reviewed by the County Attorney's Office.
In summary, the agreement will allow the County to build the project through NMDOT right-of-way while requiring the County to provide routine operation and maintenance of the trail and underpass structure including lighting, signing, and traffic safety devices once the project is completed. The agreement also specifies that NMDOT will perform annual inspections of the underpass structure and provide inspection reports.
Fiscal and Staff Impact/Planned Item
On March 1, 2016 the County Council appropriated $1 million for the Canyon Rim Trail with a request to pursue grant opportunities. On November 14, 2017 The County Council established a project budget of $320,000 associated with a NMDOT Cooperative Project Agreement for Design of the Canyon Rim Trail Underpass project received from a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant.
As part of the TAP grant the project will also be awarded construction funding in FY 2020 in the amount of $2,020,000 following design completion in Summer 2019.
Routine ongoing annual maintenance costs in the approximate amount of $10,000 per year for the lighting, signing, traffic safety devices, and occasional concrete repairs and painting would be required.
Attachments
A - Cooperative Use, Maintenance and Lighting Agreement - Canyon Rim Trail Underpass Project