Summer 2015 Newsletter
Construction of the new B-Line Operations & Maintenance Facility to Start in August
BCAG staff has been working for three years on the development of a new Operations & Maintenance Facility for Butte Regional Transit B-Line. The new facility will be constructed on a ten acre site at Huss Drive in Chico.
BCAG staff has completed environmental documents, project design and secured funding to construct the facility. The total ten acre site will be developed to house a new maintenance building for day-to-day service of the bus fleet, a new bus fueling facility, bus wash and detailing center.
The facility will also include new administrative offices for the B-Line operations contractor (Veolia Transdev), and regional administrative offices of BCAG.
The current operations and maintenance facility was originally used by Chico Area Transit (CATS) prior to consolidation of the transit systems in 2005.
Construction of the new facility will be done in two phases. Phase one includes construction of the maintenance building and administration offices. Once is complete, current operations and administration will move into the new buildings. Phase two will include retrofitting the current buildings for other uses and expansion of the bus parking area.
The “off-site” improvements (Storm drain expansion and Aztec Drive extension) are scheduled to start construction by late August with Franklin Construction of Chico, whom was awarded the off-site improvement project. The “on-site” improvements, or construction of the operations and maintenance facility, was awarded to Broward Builders from Woodland, CA. on August 19th. Construction for the “on-site” work will begin by late September, and should be complete by the spring season of 2016.
For additional information on the Operations & Maintenance facility contact Andy Newsum or Jon Clark.BCAG's 2014/15 Federal Regional Project Platform
- State Route 70 Corridor - Current Planning Efforts & Future Project Funding Needs
- Butte Regional Conservation Plan – Future Funding Needs for Conservation Implementation
- Butte Regional Transit – Future Funding for Capital Bus Replacement and Regional Transit Facilities
- MAP 21 Reauthorization – Recognizing SR 70 Corridor as a High Priority Need and Future Transportation Funding Butte County Region
Caltrans District 3 Director Jody Jones retired in June 2014
...after a distinguished 34-year career with the California Department of Transportation - Caltrans.
Jones was the District 3 Director since 2001, and oversaw the construction of more than $1 billion in transportation projects during her tenure. In Butte County, Jones was instrumental in completing State Route 70 improvements and constructing the State Route 149 project.
Jody lives in Paradise with her husband Ron, and serves on the Town Council, where she will seek re-election in November 2014.
BCAG Visits Delegation in Washington DC
BCAG Board members Doug Teeter, Steve Lambert along with BCAG staff Jon Clark and Andy Newsum, met with congressional representatives in Washington DC in early April of this year. Meetings were held with Congressman Doug LaMalfa, Congressman John Garamendi, and staff representatives with Senator’s Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein’s offices. In addition, BCAG members met with several federal agencies including the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Federal Transit Administration and the US Department of Transportation.
This is the sixth year that BCAG representatives have traveled to Washington DC to meet with congressional representatives and their staff, and federal agencies that BCAG is coordinating studies or projects with. BCAG coordinates their annual Washington DC visits with Butte County since our agencies both contract with the Ferguson Group. The Ferguson Group is a lobbying firm that assists BCAG and the County with regional projects & issues platform that seeks to obtain funding assistance from the federal transportation and other programs for regional project priorities.
BCAG and the County’s annual meetings with congressional representatives provides an opportunity to meet and review the current status of regional projects and issues, and provides our congressional representative the opportunity ask questions and provide input to staff and members of the Board.
To date, BCAG has secured over $49 million in discretionary funding from various transportation grants and appropriations for regional transportation projects that serve the region. Projects that have been funded include the reconstruction of Forest Highway 171 and construction funding for the Butte Regional Transit Operations & Maintenance Facility.
For additional information on BCAG’s federal project platform, contact Jon Clark.
HCP/NCCP “White Papers” Document Positive Economic Benefits of Regional Habitat Conservation Plans
Two recently published "White Papers" have concluded that regional Habitat Conservation Plans or HCPs, have resulted in a significant costs savings for both public and private development projects. In addition, these reports document that HCPs greatly streamline the endangered species permitting process by providing more certainty, reduced processing time, which saves the public time and money.
The White Paper on Economic Effects of Regional Habitat Conservation Plans, prepared by Economic & Planning Systems, Inc for California Habitat Conservation Planning Coalition, evaluates the effectiveness to-date of four regional HCPs in Southern California, and documents the economic benefits that have resulted in these communities since being adopted. A copy of the Executive Summary and Full Document can be found at www.buttehcp.com.
The White Paper Transportation and Habitat Conservation Plans Document - Improving Planning and Project Delivery While Preserving Endangered Species, was prepared by the University of California Transportation Center. This report documents the time and cost savings and major benefits to transportation projects permitted under regional HCPs. A copy of the Executive Summary and Full Document are also available on the BRCP website at www.buttehcp.com.
BRCP Environmental Impact Report ( EIR) & Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) STATUS
The formal public draft BRCP and EIS/EIR documents have been completed and were submitted to the USFWS regional office for review in mid-April. BCAG staff has been coordinating primarily with the USFWS field office in developing the plan (as required). Because the regional office is responsible for publishing the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register prior to the required 90-day public review period, they must now spend 6-10 weeks reviewing the draft prior to publishing the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. As such, the documents are expected to be released for the 90-day public review period sometime in fall 2014.
Additionally, BCAG staff and the consultant team are continuing the development of the Butte Regional Aquatic Resources Program (ARP), and expect a draft to be released with the BRCP and EIS/EIR in fall 2014.
BCAG Staff Host Study Session with Local Developers on BRCP Benefits
BCAG staff hosted a “Study Session” with local developers on August 19th to provide an overview of how the BRCP will streamline the permitting process for local development projects, thus saving time and money.
In addition to staff, representatives from the US Fish & Wildlife Service and US Army Corps of Engineers were on hand to discuss the advantages the BRCP will have with implementation of their respective programs. The meeting also provided the opportunity for developers to ask questions or get clarification of how the BRCP will be implemented. The meetings attendance included about twelve individuals form the Chico Chamber and local building industry.
Google Transit Makes Trip Planning Easy
Butte Regional Transit (B-Line) has recently added services making it easier and more convenient for passengers to plan and use the B-Line fixed route transit service.
B-Line has partnered with Google Maps to provide a “Trip Planning” feature to the B-Line web site. With the Trip Planner, a rider can simply enter the origin and destination of a trip and the Trip Planner will provide options to let you easily select the most convenient trip. To make it even easier, if you don't know the address, you can enter a street intersection, or even a business name, and your trip options will be available immediately.
This program will not only help new riders figure out routes, but can even allow more experienced riders to discover new options they may not be familiar with, or thought too complex to try.
The new Trip Planner ties in nicely with the B-Line Tracker, which was introduced last fall. The Tracker allows passengers to send a text message with their bus stop ID, and instantly receive real-time information on when their bus will arrive.
For more information on both the Trip Planer and the Tracker, please visit the B-Line web page at www.blinetransit.com.
Draft 2015 Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) Available for Public Review & Comments
BCAG staff has completed a Draft of the 2015 FTIP and has noticed the document to the public for review for comments.
The 2015 Draft FTIP identifies approximately $188 million in funding for twenty-four transportation projects to be constructed over the next four federal fiscal years.
BCAG is required to prepare and adopt the FTIP every two years. The FTIP identifies all transportation projects that receive federal funds and is required to include an air quality conformity determination – essentially document that the projects in the FTIP will not worsen air quality.
The Draft 2015 FTIP is avialbel for review at the following link:
