TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Tony Olmos, Director of Public Works
Joe Parco, City Engineer
SUBJECT:Title
Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project Design Overview (Public Works Director Olmos).
RECEIVE REPORT AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive report on the Strand Stairs Rehabilitation Project Design overview and provide possible direction.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There may be fiscal impacts dependent on City Council direction.
BACKGROUND:
There are currently two major recreational features located along the City’s entire two mile coastline, a pedestrian walkway (Strand) owned and maintained by the City and the Marvin Braude Bike Path (Bike Path) owned and operated by the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works. The Bike Path is situated to the west of the Strand and is separated from the Strand by a vegetated slope of varying widths and grade.
The proposed improvements will provide safe access from the Strand to the beach and will comply with current ADA requirements. Specifically, the scope of the project includes the reconstruction of 20 existing stairs located between the Strand and the Bike Path and also includes repairs and aesthetic treatments to retaining walls located at 14th Street, 16th Street, 18th Street, 20th Street, and Rosecrans Avenue. Since its inception, this project has received public input from three community meetings, has been presented to Cultural Arts Commission, and has been presented to City Council on a number of occasions.
The following is a summary of previous City Council action to date:
1. On December 3, 2013
• Directed to separate the project into two (Strand Stairs and Retaining Wall Enhancement Project)
• Decided to replace balistrades “in-kind”
• Selected enhanced rail design
2. On February 25, 2014
• Selected aesthetic treatment for retaining walls and provided additional design comments.
3. On April 15, 2014
• Reviewed final revised aesthetic treatment for retaining walls and approved design.
4. On March 4, 2015
• Awarded construction contract for the Retaining Walls Enhancement Project ($79,400). Project has been completed.
5. In November 2014 and July 2015
• Rejected bids for Strand Stairs project. Only received 2 bids each time (cost was too high).
6. On September 15, 2015
• Approved use of additional federal funds to fully fund the project (STPL - $481,249)
• Directed staff to present the project design to City Council at the October 6, 2015 meeting. Mayor subsequently approved moving this item to the October 20, 2015 City Council meeting at staff’s request.
DISCUSSION:
At the September 15, 2015 City Council meeting, staff recommended approval to additional STPL funds towards the construction of the Strand Stairs project. As part of the presentation, staff also discussed project status, which included an overview of two potential changes to the project that were expected to simplify construction and deter skateboarders from using the rails as a skate feature. These changes involved making changes to the specifications to alter the way the balistrades are fabricated and also included a possible change to the railing alignment to make it more difficult for skateboarders to “grind” on them. After discussion, City Council became concerned that these changes would significantly alter the design they previously approved and directed staff to present the project design at the upcoming meeting.
After subsequent review, the skate deterrent options available for handrails did not meet ADA requirements based on staff’s interpretation of the building code, so no skate deterrents will be provided as part of the project. However, staff will continue to evaluate any other non-intrusive options that may become available in the future. The changes to the specifications to change how balistrades are fabricated are going to be incorporated into the contract documents since staff expects that the change will translate into more efficient construction. This change will not impact the rail design previously approved by City Council.
In summary, staff prepared a powerpoint presentation that provides a project overview and includes the project design renderings approved by City Council on December 3, 2013 and February 25, 2014 for both the Strand Stairs and the Retaining Wall Enhancement Project (Attachment 1). It should be noted that there are notable differences between the City Council approved design and the final construction for the Retaining Wall Enhancement Project.
The Retaining Wall Enhancement Project design presented to City Council on February 25, 2014 included a sandblasted finished background while leaving a wave pattern on the existing unaltered natural concrete surface (with the exception of removing existing graffiti/paint). The sandblasted surface was to create a contrast between the waves and the background. The color of the exposed aggregate from the proposed sandblast would create a medium grey. The street numbering was to be charcoal grey.
During construction, since the sandblast did not create much color on its own and there was very little color contrast, the project team decided to use a lightly tinted wall smoothing compound called Ardex, to provide a smooth surface and provide the intended contrast. The lightly tinted wave design along with the patched concrete background looked extremely poor. The project team then decided to add another layer of tint, which resulted in the darker wave color and decided to paint the remaining wall surface to create a uniform background color. The selected color was intended to match the surrounding concrete surface.
City staff should have stopped work on the construction project when the project design was evolving away from the City Council approved design and should have solicited City Council input on any of the proposed changes. Staff regrets any inconvenience this may have caused.
Moving forward, the Strand Stairs Project is expected to start construction in early 2016. As construction of the Strand Stairs project nears completion in mid-2016, staff will present City Council with specific design modification options to the Retaining Wall Enhancement Project to assure that both the wall treatments and the new Strand Stairs match in color and appearance.
CONCLUSION:
It is staff’s recommendation that the City Council receive this report and provide possible direction.
Attachments:
1. Project Design Presentation