| |
|
|
|
The CSRS,
Inc. Program Management Team received its Notice to
Proceed from the Department of Public Works on March 10,
2006. The initial and most critical function of the
entire program management services for the Green Light
Plan was implement a quick and comprehensive budget and
financial analysis of the program. |
|
|
|
|
|
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina posed many doubts as to
whether or not the construction inflation would outpace the
increased sales tax revenues due to the increased population in
Baton Rouge. While sales taxes had an immediate rise, it is
difficult to forecast the long term increase that can be
expected. Construction costs have continued to increase since
the hurricane and it is still not known if prices have
stabilized. |
|
|
|
|
|
The
budgeting phase of the work began with updating the
transportation model from the Capitol Region Planning
Commission to reflect the post-Katrina traffic counts.
The data was utilized to determine the number of lanes
required for each project as well as determination of
required traffic signals and turning lane geometry at
major intersections. |
|
|
|
|
|
Utilizing the traffic modeling information, the team began to
develop schematic geometric plans for each project with current
aerial photography as a backdrop. This initial schematic plan
would be modified through several iterations based upon input of
factors such as right of way costs, avoiding environmental
issues, and utility relocation conflicts. |
|
|
|
|
|
The construction estimating team then began to break down each
project into detailed line-item quantities and unit prices of
all anticipated construction costs for the project. Input was
received from hydrologists regarding required bridge and
drainage crossings as well as estimates of trunk line sizes and
lengths. Environmental engineers performed environmental
overviews of each project detailing sensitive areas to avoid as
well as permitting and mitigation costs for each project. |
|
|
|
|
|
Requests
were made to all utility companies to obtain as-built
plans of all utility lines. This information was
cataloged and filed by project to help determine
potential utility conflicts with the proposed routes.
Utility relocation estimates were generated to forecast
the exposure of relocation costs to the City-Parish of
East Baton Rouge. |
|
|
|
|
|
Right of Way acquisition costs can be extremely difficult to
estimate as several factors can influence not only the amount
paid for property but also the soft costs necessary to acquire
the right of way. The right of way team utilized the tax
assessors roles to catalog all parcels along the routes, and the
concept plans provided an estimate of the square footage of
property required for each parcel. Research on recent sales of
properties provided the basis for comparable purchase prices for
the real estate. Additional estimates were provided for special
relocation and total taking of properties. All soft costs were
included in the estimates including abstracts, appraisals, agent
acquisition, legal, environmental clean up, and management of
the right of way acquisition process. |
|
|
|
|
|
All of the above work was summarized and compiled to compute a
present day cost for each project. The impact of Hurricane
Katrina was continually monitored through the process, with bid
tabs from the Millerville Road and Perkins Road projects
providing the most recent data. The net effect of Hurricane
Katrina has resulted in a near 100% increase in roadway
construction prices. |
|
|
|
|
|
The CSRS, Inc. team worked with the City-Parish Finance
Department to help formulate the income side of the financial
model based upon expected sales tax revenues from the ½ cent
pothole tax. Seventy (70%) percent of the proceeds from this tax
will be dedicated to the 35 Green Light Plan Projects. |
|
|
|
|
|
As a result of the increase in Baton Rouge population from
Hurricane Katrina, the financial model for the Green Light Plan
will presume an immediate 20% increase in sales taxes over the
base year of 2004 tax receipts. Looking forward, a 3% to 5%
annual increase in sales tax revenues were utilized to predict
sales tax growth. |
|
|
|
|
|
In conclusion, Hurricane Katrina has provided a considerable
financial strain on the program as Baton Rouge is experiencing a
near 100% increase in road construction prices with only a 20%
increase in sales tax revenues. |
|
|
|
|
|
In order to establish an objective method of determining which
projects should be constructed first, the team developed a
project priority matrix that considers factors such as accident
data, project traffic counts, right of way acquisition,
permitting complexity, potential for future funding, and total
project cost. Each project was scored for all of the above
factors and weighted to produce a numerical score with the
highest scoring projects being constructed first. |
|
|
|
|
|
The master program
schedule contained in the Program Overview of this website will
detail the construction schedule for the program. |
