Semi-Annual Reports to WSDOT

Washington Division Quarterly Project Delivery Report
Fiscal Year 2006 Quarter 2 (Volume I, Issue I) (08-25-06)

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Washington Division has developed the following Quarterly Project Delivery Report (QPDR) to focus attention a broad array of activities / initiatives / approvals we take to assist the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and local agencies in delivering projects. This initial report was designed highlight several program areas where we provide technical / program / project assistance.

Presented below and herein are charts / graphs of a couple of project delivery measures. Additional charts / graphs will be added in future reports as new data is gathered for supplemental measures. Also included are other actions we've taken to help project delivery. On the back page we also highlight other project delivery challenges.

We will continue to add to/revise the performance measures for future reporting and welcome any suggestions. Our goal is to continue to set the standard for excellence in FHWA in project delivery.

This chart shows the timeliness of approval of authorizations for preliminary engineering, right-of-way, and construction projects using federal-aid funds submitted to the Washington Division office since 1999. Significant progress has been made in the timeliness of approving projects. Our goal is to approve 90% of all authorizations within the first five (5) days of receipt.

This table reflects the number of authorizations approved within certain timeframes since 1999. As stated previously, over 90% of all authorizations to were approved within five (5) business days in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2006 through May. (Note: the FFY begins on October 1 and ends of September 30 of the following year.)

Right-of-Way Certification 3s Processed I Approved by the Washington Division for the 1st & 2nd quarters of FFY 06:

(Right of Way Certifications. In order to authorize the advertisement sofa project for construction, the State must certify the right-of-way has been cleared, per 23 CFR 635.309. There are three types of R/W Certifications:

• a Certification 1 means that all necessary property rights have been acquired and any displacees relocated;
• a Certification 2 means there are some parcels where acquisition has not been completed, but the State has legal right of entry to enter and work on the property and any displacees have been relocated;
• a Certification 3 means there are some parcels where rights have not been obtained, and there may be some displacees remaining; the regulations state that certification 3s are the exception " ... and must never become the rule.")

This page highlights some of the "Actions" the Washington Division has taken to help deliver some high profile state projects in a more timely manner:

1. Assigned a full time Major Project Oversight Manager to Seattle to better serve project needs for I-405 and the Alaskan Way Viaduct projects.
2. The Bellevue Nickel Environmental Assessment (EA) was signed on January 24, 2006, without completion of Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation to keep the project on schedule. The normal procedure is to have ESA consultation complete before approving the environmental document. ESA consultation will need to be completed before the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is signed.
3. The Renton to Bellevue EA was signed without completion of Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation to keep the project on schedule. As noted in 2, above, the normal procedure is to have ESA consultation complete before approving the environmental document. ESA consultation will need to be completed before the FONSI is signed.

Right-of-Way (ROW):

1. On the S. Everett Freeway Station project in Snohomish County, we worked with WSDOT and Sound Transit Real Estate management and staff to resolve issues with a lease between WSDOT and Sound Transit that resulted in our approval on April 27th sofa ROW Certification 3 to allow this project to meet a scheduled advertising date of May 1st.
2. On the SR 305 project in Poulsbo, we worked with WSDOT to determine how to resolve several encroachments in order to get the project advertised on schedule. The encroachments were corrected and we successfully achieved a ROW certification on this the week of April 17th.

Following are two e-mails received by staff in recognition of their assistance on a couple of projects:

Lexington Bridge Project in Cowlitz County (Contract awarded the last week of April)

Good Afternoon Gary (Hughes) and Steve (Saxton),
      I wanted to take a moment to express my appreciation and that of the Board of County Commissioners for the efforts that each of you put forward in getting our project through the permitting process. As you know, this project was subject to many different challenges that caused many to doubt our ability to have the project ready for ad within the required timeframes. I know that you both probably grew tired at the sound of my voice. However, I also know that without your dedication and willingness to look outside the box, we would not be issuing a call for bids for this project as was done by our Commissioners yesterday. This is a very important project to the citizens of Cowlitz County and we are excited that it has surpassed this important milestone. I know many who look upon the permitting process with anguish and see the regulatory agencies as nothing more than a stumbling block. Know that I see it in a completely different way and will be out there, praising your efforts. Thank-You Again!!!
– Ryan Lopossa, PE, Engineering Manager, Cowlitz County Public Works

Mercer Street Project and the North End of the A WV project

James (Christian),
      Thanks for the heads up. I want to express my appreciation to you and Elizabeth (Healy) for hearing this out, and being patient as we worked very hard between the two project teams over the past few months to coordinate the work required between the projects to support the independent utility opinion we had expressed. In the end this helped to advance the inter-project coordination by leaps and bounds, which has value to both project teams.
– John (White, WSDOT, UCO)

Other project delivery challenges in Washington State.

This chart shows the formal timeframes for Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations for both the US Fish & Wildlife Services (USF&WS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) beginning with completions in April 2001. Each diamond point indicates the number of days needed for completion of the formal consultation process for a specific project. Formal consultation is entered into when a project is determined "likely to have an adverse affect" on a listed endangered species (some of the most encountered on projects are chinook, coho, sockeye, and chum salmon; bull trout; bald eagles; and marbled murrelets). Formal consultations are required to be completed within 135 days (90 days for consultation and 45 days to prepare a biological opinion (BO)). The expected listing of Puget Sound steelhead in September of 2007 will add to the challenge.

For more information contact: