State Highway 6 (SH6) serves as a major arterial for 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 US59. In 2009, SH6 underwent Phase II widening by adding an outside lane which alleviated some congestion. Triple left turn lanes were also added on US59 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 due to these deficiencies and the level of congestion that has been experienced between Brooks Street and Lexington Boulevard. The Advanced Funding Agreement(AFA) will solidify Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) funding of the project as it has been identified in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) through the Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC).

The proposed project focuses on widening SH6 from six to eight 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 SH6. The current configuration of SH6 does not adequately support the existing or future traffic volumes that this facility carries or will carry 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.

Since the execution of the original Advanced Funding Agreement (AFA) in May 2015, significant increases in right-of-way (ROW) costs and construction warranted a need for additional non-local funds to keep the project viable. On September 23, 2016, the H-GAC approved the City’s request in funds to help offset the increased ROW and construction costs. In November 2016, with approval of Resolution 16-42 (AFA Amendment No.1), TxDOT agreed to contribute an additional $1.5 million toward construction cost and 500,000 toward ROW cost. 

Because of the significant increases in ROW costs and staff's discovery of that SH6 is a TxDOT recognized hurricane evacuation route which shall qualify for 100% ROW reimbursement. Staff worked with TxDOT diligently and negotiated a stand alone new ROW Agreement (Resolution No. 18-34) to eliminate the City's ROW cost share obligations.

This agenda item for consideration is to approve Resolution No. 18-33 approving AFA Amendment No. 2 to remove ROW terms from the original AFA which will be brought forward as a separate agreement.

The terms of this TxDOT AFA Amendment No.2 include the following:

• Construction cost share participation remains 80/20 (no changes made)    
• Removal of all funding for ROW acquisition from the AFA amendments to be placed into a separate ROW Procurement 100% Agreement (to be considered for approval by City Council on a separate item on this agenda)

The Engineering Department recommends the City Council approve Resolution No.18-33 for Advance Funding Agreement Amendment No.2 with the Texas Department of Transportation for SH6 Phase III Improvements Brooks St. to Lexington Blvd., CIP ST1404.