TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THRU: Tom Kisela, City Manager
FROM: Christopher Cash, Public Works Director
1. Subject
title
Agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. for traffic engineering services for the School Crossing Guard Warrant Study.
body
2. Summary
The professional services agreement authorizes Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. to provide traffic engineering services necessary to conduct a crossing guard warrant study at 43 school crossings that have or have had crossing guards within the city. Through this study, the consultant will compare existing traffic conditions against recognized standards for crossing guard placement and categorize each of the school crossings based on their level of need for a crossing guard.
3. Recommended Action
recommendation
1. Approve the agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. in the total amount of $50,546.10, representing the cost of traffic engineering services of $45,951.00, plus a 10% contingency of $4,595.10; and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute on behalf of the City.
2. Authorize the one-time appropriation of $50,550 from the General Fund (100) unreserved fund balance to:
100.5031.51670.00000 Other Professional & Consulting Services
end
4. Fiscal Impact
The expense for this agreement is $50,550 and will be funded through the General Fund (100):
100.5031.51670.00000 Other Professional & Consulting Services
Upon approval of this appropriation, the estimated General Fund (100) fund balance at June 30, 2025 will reflect a deficit of -$6,729,277.
The projected Catastrophic Reserve on June 30, 2025 is $25.9 million.
5. Strategic Plan Goals
Goal 1: Provide for a safe community
b: Provide and maintain infrastructure necessary to ensure the safety of the public.
6. Discussion and Background
History and Need
On September 10, 2024, City Council directed staff to evaluate the City’s School Crossing Guard Program, including conducting a crossing guard warrant study for 43 school crossings in Orange that were previously approved for a crossing guard. This program has not been formally reviewed in many years and an updated warrant study will use current conditions, data, and standards to evaluate the level of need for, and prioritize, crossing guard services at the various school crossing locations. The study will use two sources of criteria to evaluate adult crossing guard placement: The California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (CA MUTCD), which was most recently updated in March 2023, and the City’s Criteria for School Crossing Guards, which was approved by City Council in 1971.
Scope of Work
Each of the 43 crossing locations will require extensive traffic data collection, including vehicles, pedestrians, crash analysis, and field reviews. The data collection is scheduled to be conducted in November and December 2024, with care taken to avoid any school holidays or closures. The subsequent analysis will then take into consideration the number of school age pedestrians, vehicle traffic volumes, existing roadway geometrics, existing traffic control at each crossing and any other extenuating circumstances. Once all locations have been evaluated, findings and recommendations will be summarized in a report that can be presented to the City Traffic Commission and Council next spring for information or potential action. The results of this study can be used to inform crossing guard deployment for FY26 and beyond. Based on the magnitude and urgency of this effort, the services of an engineering consultant are required.
Procurement
Staff previously developed a list of top firms for on-call traffic engineering services to augment the City’s professional traffic engineering capabilities and to provide high quality, timely expertise and support where needed. This list was established through a Request for Qualifications/Proposals process to identify the City’s bench of on-call traffic engineering consultants. Using that on-call bench, Public Works staff solicited proposals for the School Crossing Guard Warrant Study from four qualified traffic engineering firms.
Each of the four firms submitted a proposal, with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. (Kimley-Horn) addressing all the city’s needs at the lowest cost ($45,951.00). The Kimley-Horn project team conducting this study is located in the company’s Orange office, which recently completed the City’s Local Roadway Safety Plan in 2023. Through that effort, Kimley-Horn understands the City’s evolving needs and priorities regarding traffic safety.
Additionally, Kimley-Horn’s proposal accounts for an accelerated timeline to complete this citywide warrant analysis, meeting staff’s proposed timeline of presenting the results of the study and prioritization list to the City’s Traffic Commission tentatively in February 2025. If approved, the awarded contract amount would be $45,951.00 plus a 10% contingency of $4,595.10, totaling $50,546.10. Staff recommends approving the proposed agreement with Kimley-Horn.
7. ATTACHMENT
• Agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.