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BACKGROUND <br /> The FY 2017/18 Capital Improvement Program included CIP No. 17448 to expand and <br /> improve the existing parking lot in the downtown transportation corridor between Bernal <br /> Avenue and Abbie Street. The stated goal of the project in the CIP budget book was to <br /> create an additional 70 to 80 parking spaces for visitors to the downtown area. On <br /> February 6, 2018, City Council approved a professional services agreement for a not-to- <br /> exceed amount of $197,000 with HMH to provide the engineering and design services <br /> necessary to prepare biddable plans and specifications for the project. <br /> On June 18, 2019, City Council was presented with the design work on the parking <br /> improvements as they had progressed. The plans were approximately 65 percent <br /> complete. The presentation showed that the expanded parking lot area would increase <br /> the number of parking spaces from 59 to a total of 140 spaces, or an increase of 81 <br /> parking spaces. As part of the presentation, City Council was also shown how achieving <br /> the goal of increasing the number of parking spaces consistent with the project as <br /> described in the CIP was very challenging due to the width of the corridor right-of-way, <br /> the grade differential across the width of the right-of-way, and the need to "tie" the <br /> proposed improvements to the elevation of adjacent properties. A specific concern was <br /> the constraints which caused bicycle and pedestrian trail "pinch points" where the trail <br /> narrowed to a less than desirable 8-foot width. City Council directed staff to revisit the <br /> design to increase the width of the concrete trail as much as possible, with the goal of a <br /> 10-foot width with 2-foot buffers on both sides (as is the preferred minimum trail cross <br /> section as described in the Bicycle Pedestrian Master Plan). The direction from Council <br /> included that when re-designing, staff should consider removal of some of the proposed <br /> aesthetic design features first, such as the column relief on the retaining wall on which <br /> the lights standards were to be constructed, and/or reduction of space being allocated <br /> to landscaping, although the landscaping areas helped to achieve the goal of meeting <br /> the elevations of the private property improvements along the length of the corridor. To <br /> meet the trail width goal of 10 feet, City Council also indicated that the number of new <br /> parking spaces could be reduced by 10 percent (8 spaces) if necessary. Staff <br /> understood that a reduction in parking spaces was to be a "last resort" alternative. <br /> DISCUSSION <br /> Staff and HMH have been working on alternatives since the City Council meeting on <br /> June 18, 2019. The wall relief has been removed. The light standards have been <br /> relocated to be off-center from the top of the wall with their concrete footings <br /> encroaching into the parking lot. The concrete footings have been rotated 45 degrees to <br /> minimize their interference with the usable parking stall width and length. The retaining <br /> wall itself can also be designed to gain a few inches of width for the trail. In addition, the <br /> work has also involved meeting with the property and business owners adjacent to the <br /> corridor on the west side to review options for matching the elevation of the corridor with <br /> their varied property elevation differentials. These discussions have been successful in <br /> allowing some grading and edge landscaping to occur on the adjacent private <br /> properties, but these improvements will require right-of-entry agreements to perform the <br /> construction work, and easements for ongoing landscape maintenance. <br /> Page 2 of 4 <br />