Agenda Item Wording:
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Award a two-part design contract to ARUP US for the Cross Valley Express project - Authorize the City Manager to award part 1 of the design contract with ARUP US in the amount of $1,035,439.36 for the project approval and environmental document phase and conditionally award part 2 of the contract for the plans, specifications and estimate phase in the amount of $2,404,639.25 for the Cross Valley Express project.
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Agenda Date: 10/05/2026
Prepared by:
Eric Bons , Senior Civil Engineer, eric.bons@visalia.gov, 559-713-4350
Dolores Verduzco, Financial Analyst, dolores.verduzco@visalia.gov, 559-713-4540
Chris Crawford , City Engineer, chris.crawford@visalia.gov, 559-713-4331
Jason Huckleberry, Engr. & Bldg. Director, jason.huckleberry@visalia.gov, 559-713-4495
Department Recommendation: Staff recommends the City Council to authorize the City Manager to award a two-part design contract with ARUP US, Inc. for the Cross Valley Express project. Authorize the City Manager to award part 1 of the design contract in the amount of $1,035,439.36 for the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED) phase and conditionally award part 2 of the contract for the Plans, Specifications and Estimate (PS&E) phase of the Cross Valley Express project in the amount of $2,404,639.25. The PA&ED phase is the planning and environmental clearance required to proceed to the full design (PS&E) phase of the project.
Summary:
The Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG) received an award of $59,100,000 from the State Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) for improvements to implement a high-frequency transportation corridor as part of Phase 1 of the Cross Valley Corridor Plan. At the November 3, 2025, meeting, the City Council approved the City to participate and serve as the project lead of the Cross Valley Corridor project. City Council approved at the March 16, 2026 meeting, the appropriation of $1,246,000 of the $59,100,000 for the PA&ED phase for project planning, preliminary engineering, and the preparation of environmental documents. The PA&ED phase of this project will include the thirty percent (30%) level engineering design of the project.
The contract with ARUP contains two parts. Part 1 is for the design contract with ARUP for the PA&ED along with the 30% design and part 2 is for the full PS&E design with ARUP to take the project into the construction phase. The funding allocation for part 1 has been fully approved by the California Transportation Commission (CTC) and can be fully approved by council at this time. Once the PA&ED phase is complete staff will be able to return to the CTC to get full approval for the part 2 PS&E phase. Part 2 is to be conditionally approved at this time to set the PS&E design contract costs and to allow the City Manager to execute the contract for the entire design project. Staff will bring part 2 back to City Council at a future date to fully approve the PS&E work after additional funding is allocated by the CTC. This is a requirement for the project funding. The work on part 2 will not begin until City Council has seen this item again following the CTC allocation of additional PS&E funding.
Background Discussion:
The Cross Valley Corridor Plan is a long-term plan to provide an express regional transit service within the Tulare and Kings Counties. The proposed regional transit service will link cities east to west between Porterville-Lindsay-Visalia-Hanford-Lemoore-Huron. TCAG has submitted multiple grant funding applications and is coordinating with various agencies to secure funding for capital improvements to support the implementation of the Cross Valley Corridor Plan. TCAG received an award of $59,100,000 from TIRCP, Cycle 7, for the Cross Valley Express project.
The Cross Valley Express project is part of the implementation of Phase 1 of the Cross Valley Corridor. Phase 1 focuses on improving transit service and addressing current transit service gaps to key locations in Tulare County. The overall Cross Valley Corridor project will be implemented over the course of ten (10) years, involving multiple agencies. The City of Visalia will implement the Cross Valley Express project. The Cross Valley Express project includes the procurement of vehicles and capital infrastructure improvements such as electrical charging infrastructure, road improvements, transit signal prioritization and passenger shelters to support a new bus rapid transit (BRT) service between Tulare and Visalia via State Route 63 and a cross valley express (CVX) transit service between Visalia and Farmersville (see attached exhibit for specific phasing). The City will coordinate with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), TCAG, and the Tulare County Regional Transit Agency (TRCTA) for the Cross Valley Express project. Staff is currently working on the draft agreements for interagency project coordination and for operation of facilities post project completion. Staff will return to Council at a later date for the approval of the necessary interagency agreements for capital improvements and operations.
TIRCP funding for each project is separated into phases consisting of the Project Approval & Environmental (PA&ED) phase, Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E) phase, Right-of-Way (ROW) phase and the Construction (CON) phase. For the Cross Valley Express project, no right-of-way or property acquisition is anticipated. Funding in the amount of $1,246,000 has been allocated for the PA&ED phase which will be utilized to finalize design concepts, begin preliminary engineering, and begin the environmental review process. Funding for the proceeding phases, PS&E and CON, has been requested for appropriation of TIRCP funding as part of the City’s next 6-Year Capital Improvement Plan.
The contract with ARUP contains two parts; Part 1 will complete the PA&ED with the 30% design and part 2 will complete the PS&E phase of the project. Authorization is requested for the award of part 1 and the conditional authorization for part 2. Part 2 is not to begin until the CTC allocates the additional funding associated with part 2. Approving part 1 and conditionally approving part 2 fixes ARUP’s consultants fee for all the design work to bring the project to the construction phase of the project.
Fiscal Impact including annual maintenance and operating costs:
The City is the implementing agency for the total amount of $59,100,000 in TIRCP funding received for the Cross Valley Express project. Each phase requires funding approval from the California Transportation Commission (CTC) who has oversight of the State Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) grant funds. On March 20, 2026, the CTC approved the allocation of $1,246,000 for the PA&ED phase. Funding for the remaining phases (PS&E and Construction) has been budgeted, however, authorization for those funds has not been requested from the CTC as there are phase-specific timing requirements associated with each phase once funds are authorized.
The amount of funds budgeted for the PS&E phase is $1,269,000. The project currently does not have enough funds budgeted for the PS&E design portion. City staff will be requesting reallocation of the grant funds between the different phases of the overall project from the CTC. After the CTC authorizes the allocation of funding needed for the PS&E phase, staff will bring the award of the PS&E design to the City Council for final authorization of the award for the PS&E phase of the project to Arup, Inc.
A request for proposals (RFP 25-26-24) was advertised in April of 2026 and the proposal were due on March 19, 2026. The city received one proposal from ARUP US, Inc. Staff reviewed the proposal and negotiated the fees with ARUP US, Inc. It was determined that they are qualified with adequate resources to complete the tasks as outline in the RFP. ARUP’s fee for the part 1 Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA&ED) is $1,035,440 and their fee for part 2 Plans, Specifications and Estimate (PS&E) is $2,404,639.25. Both are shown in the summary below.
Funding (TIRCP Grant)
Funding (TIRCP Grant)
Project Approval & Environmental Document (PA&ED) $ 1,246,000
Plan, Specifications & Estimate (PS&E) $ 1,269,000
Construction Funding $42,585,000
Zero-Emission Bus Purchase $14,000,000
Total: $59,100,000
Budget Summary:
Project Approval & Environmental Document (PA&ED) Phase
PA&ED Funding (Authorized by CTC) $1,246,000
PA&ED Arup Fee Proposal $1,035,440
City Staff Time (Estimated) $ 210,560
Surplus/(Deficit): $ 0
Plans, Specifications, and Estimate (PS&E) Phase
PS&E (Budget) $ 1,269,000
PS&E Arup Fee Proposal $ 2,404,640
City Staff Time (Estimated) $ 350,000
Surplus/(Deficit): ($1,485,640)
Construction Phase
Construction Funding (Budget) $42,585,000
Transfer to PS&E Phase (pending CTC approval) $ 1,485,640
Construction Cost (Estimated) $40,099,360
City Staff Time (Estimated) $ 1,000,000
Surplus/(Deficit): $ 0
Prior Council Action:
November 3, 2025 - Approved the City’s participating in and serving as the project lead and primary services operator of the Regional Express Transit Service Project, approved the draft Resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Master Agreement and Program Supplement for Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program Funding (TIRCP), and authorized the City Manager, in coordination with the City Attorney, to draft necessary agreements with the Tulare County Association of Governments (TCAG), Tulare County Regional Transit Agency (TCRTA) and Caltrans for the Council’s formal approval.
March 16, 2026 - Authorized the appropriation of $1,246,000 from the Transit Capital Fund for funding allocated from the State Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) for the project approval and environmental document phase of the Cross Valley Express project.
April 20, 2026 - Authorized the execution of the memorandum of understanding for capital infrastructure delivery between the City of Visalia dn the Tulare County Association of Governments, and the cooperative agreement between the City of Visalia and the California Department of Transportation related to improvements to implement the Cross Valley Express bus prioritization project.
July 20, 2026 - Authorized the City Manager to enter into a mitigation agreement with Caltrans to receive funding in the amount of $4,682,000 from the Tulare six-lane Paige Avenue Interchange project for the Mooney Boulevard bus rapid transit (BRT) portion of the Cross Valley Corridor project.
Alternatives: Reject the ARUP proposal and readvertise the project.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize the City Manager to award part 1 of the design contract with ARUP US in the amount of $1,035,439.36 for the project approval and environmental document phase and conditionally award part 2 of the contract for the plans, specifications and estimate phase in the amount of $2,404,639.25 for the Cross Valley Express project.
Environmental Assessment Status: N/A
CEQA Review: CEQA to be addressed as part of the PA&ED process.
Deadline for Action: 10/05/2026
Attachments:
1. ARUP scope of work.
2. ARUP proposed fee.
3. Sample Professional Service Contract.
4. CVX and BRT Location Map
Strategic Goal: Indicates which City Strategic Goal(s) this item supports. Check all that apply.
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