State Highway 6 (SH 6) serves as a major arterial road for the City of Sugar Land and provides connectivity throughout Fort Bend County.  The primary need for the proposed project is a direct response to the operational and geometric deficiencies as well as traffic congestion on SH6 in the vicinity of US Highway 59 (US 59).  In 2009, SH 6 underwent Phase II widening by adding an outside lane which alleviated some congestion.  Triple left turn lanes were also added on US 59 south bound frontage road to improve intersection functionality and minimize delays.  The City defined this project as a high priority in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) due to these deficiencies and the level of congestion that was experienced between Brooks Street and Lexington Boulevard. 

The proposed project focuses on widening SH 6 from six (6) to eight (8) lanes between Brooks St. and Lexington Blvd.  During the weekday and weekend peak periods it is not uncommon for vehicles queued in various turn lanes to spillback and block through lane movements on SH 6.  The current configuration of SH 6 does not adequately support the existing or future traffic volumes that this facility carries on a daily basis now and in the future.  As additional activity and destination centers develop along this corridor, the increase in traffic will occur leading to added congestion.  The project is identified in the Houston Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) 2013-2016 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP).

The agenda item for consideration is to address approval of an Advance Funding Agreement (AFA) for voluntary local government (the City) contributions.  The City has requested the State upgrade from standard galvanized poles to ornamental signal poles at seven (7) intersections along SH 6 from north of Brooks Street to Lexington Boulevard with a total of 28 traffic signal poles (signal poles) and a total of 59 pedestrian poles (ped poles). The terms of the AFA are as follows:

State Responsibilities:

• The State will be responsible for performing the work
• The State will be responsible for the cost of the standard signal/ped pole

City Responsibilities:

• The City is responsible for maintaining the ornamental signal/ped poles after project completion
• The City is responsible for 100% of the difference between the cost of the standard TXDOT signal/ped poles and the cost of the ornamental signal/ped poles, including any overruns associated with the upgrade from the standard signal/ped poles to the ornamental signal/ped poles

The estimated cost of the upgrade from the standard signal poles to the ornamental signal poles is $355,400.   The costs for upgrade to the ornamental signal/ped poles were included in the project budget and funds are available from CIP ST1404.

State (standard pole cost)        $243,300

CoSL  (upgrade cost)               $355,400

Total Cost                                 $598,700

The Engineering Department recommends that City Council authorize approval of Resolution No. 18-13 for the Advance Funding Agreement (AFA) with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for the State Highway 6 (SH 6) Phase III Improvements Traffic Signal Pole Upgrade from Brooks Street to Lexington Boulevard, CIP No. ST1404, in the amount of $355,400.00.