Construction Projects Presentation

City of Chandler — Work Session (2024-05-23)

View PDF Meeting page

Extracted text (via pymupdf) 9263 characters
City Council Work Session 
May 23, 2024
Coordination and Communication for 
Road Construction Projects in Chandler

Agenda
•
Current construction control and coordination
•
Current communication initiatives for road 
construction projects
•
Current and near future projects that affect 
Chandler streets
•
Common questions received
•
Staff recommendations

Why Does the City Complete Projects within the Roadways?
•
Infrastructure maintenance and improvement: Keep systems safe 
and functional for residents.  Maintenance prolongs life of assets 
and create less cost over the life of the asset, which keeps costs 
lower for residents.
•
Enhanced mobility and accessibility: Improve utility, communications 
and transportation network for residents.
•
Safety Improvements: Traffic signals, street lighting, crosswalks.
•
Community revitalization: Revitalize neighborhoods and commercial 
districts (e.g. Galveston Neighborhood).

Current Construction Control Policies and Coordination
City Policies:
•
Holiday Moratorium: No work 
surrounding major retailers from the 
week before Thanksgiving until after 
New Years Day.
•
Financial penalties for street cuts on 
roads paved within six years.
•
Required Right-of-Way Encroachment 
Permits: Allows and documents all 
work in the city’s ROW, including 
detour routes.
•
Avoid city CIP road projects on 
adjacent arterial roads (does not 
include utility and other projects).
•
Police officers at major intersections 
during construction.

Current Construction Control Policies and 
Coordination Efforts
City CIP Project Process:
•
Typical CIP projects take multiple years from start to finish  
•
Contractor required to have all material procured before 
receiving their notice to proceed from the city
•
Coordination with other agencies, developers and 
contractors
•
City team holds resolution meetings with all affected 
stakeholders
•
Night and weekend work considered whenever practical
•
Milestones built into contracts to control work sequence 
and timing of lane/road closures

City Communication and Coordination:
•
City contractor performs public outreach and 
business liaison for city projects. 
•
Communication starts during design phase 
until end of construction (multi-year process)
•
Design Phase:
•
Prepares and distributes mailers to 
residents, stakeholders, and 
businesses in the area notifying them 
of the project and upcoming public 
meetings.
•
Prepares, facilitates, and captures 
feedback at two public meetings held 
at 30% and 90% design milestones.
•
Creates and maintains project 
webpage. 
Construction Phase:
• Mailers are sent to residents, stakeholders, and 
businesses in the area notifying them of the 
upcoming project construction. 
• Project webpage updated (continuously, 
approximately every three weeks).
• E-blast begins (project updates emailed to 
individuals, stakeholders, city staff, etc., sent 
out approximately every three weeks).
• Variable message boards and static project 
information boards are posted at the extent of 
the project.  Variable message boards are 
routinely updated.
• Project hotline for phone calls  
Current Construction Control Policies and 
Coordination Efforts

Current Construction Control Policies and 
Coordination Efforts
City Communication and Coordination:
•
Traffic restrictions project map on 
chandleraz.gov
•
Streets division sends weekly schedule 
info news blasts
•
Traffic management center coordinates 
traffic signal timing, including real-time 
adjustments
•
Major arterials/federal projects get “no 
conflict letter” from utility companies
•
Designer and developer/utility companies 
review and sign each other plans to verify 
coordination
•
WAZE traffic app

City’s 
Current 
and Near 
Future 
Projects

Current Projects Under Construction

Important Note: 
Project boundaries 
are approximate
Not all projects will 
have traffic impacts 
simultaneously.

Important Note: 
Project boundaries 
are approximate
Not all projects will 
have traffic impacts 
simultaneously.

Important Note: 
Project boundaries 
are approximate
Not all projects will 
have traffic impacts 
simultaneously.

Outside 
Agencies/Private 
Development 
Projects

Important Note: 
Project boundaries 
are approximate
Not all projects will 
have traffic impacts 
simultaneously.
•
Federal pre-emption 
prohibits the city from 
preventing non-city 
utility work.
•
Development Service 
Policy (DSP-201) 
“Public Notification for 
Non-City Utility 
Projects” requires a 
minimum of 7 days 
notice within 300 feet 
of non-city utility 
construction projects.

Coordination Of Non-City Projects
•
Federal pre-emption prohibits the city 
from preventing non-city utility work.
•
Development Services Policy (DSP-201) 
“Public Notification for Non-City Utility 
Projects” requires notification to 
residents, businesses, and HOA’s a 
minimum of 7 days notice within 300 
feet of non-city utility construction.
•
Coordination with other agencies, 
developers and contractors.
•
City team holds resolution meetings 
with all affected stakeholders.
•
CIP hosts monthly Transportation 
Coordination meeting with City staff 
•
Traffic control plans are reviewed and 
monitored by City Traffic Engineering 
Specialists to ensure that approved 
traffic control plans are implemented 
and maintained correctly.
•
Overlapping Traffic Control Plans are 
not permitted.
•
Traffic Management Center 
coordinates traffic signal timing making 
real-time adjustments, as needed.

Traffic Data 
Related to Road 
Construction 
Projects

Chandler Traffic Engineering Data
•
Sensors on stoplights report time it takes to travel between arterial 
intersections
•
Data provided gives the ability to calculate average speed of drivers
•
Identification of problem areas and allows historical data to be compared
•
According to the data, 2% of arterials have seen significant decreases in 
traffic speeds, 43% experience non-noticeable decreases in speed and 
55% saw increase in speed
•
Near known construction locations (e.g. Price frontage road, previously at 
Dobson/Chandler), traffic speeds were much slower
•
Vast majority of residents are experiencing similar commute times to last 
year.

Commonly Asked Questions
Why do traffic control barricades remain up during non-working 
periods?
•
Safer conditions – provides consistency in driver expectations
•
Barricades in place for possible night work
•
Excavations or other hazards that can’t be removed or covered
•
Efficiency in construction – fewer hours spent setting barricades 
means more time spent working
•
Removal and resetting barricades daily would increase time for 
the project by up to 35%
•
Overall cost of projects would increase due to extended time, plus 
increased cost of traffic control 
•
Barricade companies not available for this type of service 
•
Only barricade companies with IMSA/ATSSA certification and 
insurance can perform work in right of way
•
Typically, non-city utility contractors are required to remove traffic 
control

Why don’t we do more construction work at night? 
•
Night and weekend work is allowed and sometimes mandated on 
some city projects
•
City’s noise ordinance prohibits construction work after hours 
within 500 feet of residences (weekdays 5 a.m. - 10 p.m., 
weekends 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. with some permitted exceptions)
•
Reduced access to materials and project supervision for the 
contractor and city staff
•
Work efficiency can drop to 10-20%, lengthening the project 
schedule therefore increasing project cost
•
Worker safety issues
•
If day and night work were required, the schedule may decrease 
but the project cost would likely increase significantly (up to 40% 
increase likely)

New Communication Procedures for Non-City Projects
•
One-stop destination page on city website for construction projects that restrict or 
close city streets in Chandler (in progress)
•
Leverage city communication channels to promote awareness of projects and 
significant construction activities
•
Select firm to serve as a neighborhood and business liaison during Loop 202 
construction to supplement ADOT’s outreach efforts (potentially other non-city 
projects also)
New Notification Procedures for ADA/Street Maintenance Work
•
Notification to HOAs affected by the ADA/street work (via mail/email).
•
Notification to “ALL” property owners affected by the work (not just driveway impacted 
residents) via additional door hangers and/or emails (currently 5-7 days).
•
Include notification to residents of upcoming schedule (ADA in Year 1, mill and overlay in 
Year 2).
•
General project signs will be set approximately 30 days prior to work, notifying residents in 
general vicinity of the upcoming work and shall remain until work is complete.   
Recommendations

Lane Rental Fees – Incentives and Disincentives
•
Options
•
Charge per lane per day. Collect fee up front.
•
Charge per lane, per day. Collect deposit up front and provide rebate if 
completed early.
•
Create penalty fees for projects not completed on time.
•
Can do one or all of the options.
•
Other agencies have lane rental fees that range from $75 to $200 per day.
•
City inspectors enforce each day and a charge for a Traffic Control Inspection 
Fee is applied.
Recommendations

Thank you!
Questions?