Week 7 - Construction Costs of Intersection Design

Welcome back to the blog folks!

This week I will be looking into some of the costs of creating pedestrian friendly infrastructure that I looked into at the beginning of this senior project. One of the main things needed for the Mowry & Fremont intersection is a refuge island to increase safety and efficiency. A report from the Federal Highway Administration in 2013 says that the median cost is $10,460¹. However, inflation and cost rises must be accounted for, increasing the cost to about $15,500. Based on the Requests for Proposal (RFP) information on the Washington Boulevard pedestrian improvement project, which created a curb bulb-out at the northeastern corner of the intersection, a four-foot wide pedestrian refuge median island within the crosswalk, a rectangular rapid flashing beacons, radar speed feedback signs, and included a buffered bike lane, it cost $482,758². The refuge island cost about $20,000 but also included general cleaning and buffering.

Unlike in my simulation the only use space for refuge islands would be on two legs of the intersection, otherwise the median is too narrow to accommodate this feature.
The Mowry & Fremont intersection already went through a remodeling that already made significant improvements. So I will record the costs of making those changes, there are many other associated costs that come into the equation such as erosion control, impromptu signals that can still direct traffic during construction, removing existing pavement and traffic markings, relocating signs and posts, and making the manholes, valve box, water meter box and gutters at grade (raising or changing the location of them).

The City of Fremont lays out the requirements of not only what to build but also the recommended quantities that contractors should have to build it. I went through the winning bid for an intersection and put together all the material and labor costs to see that it came out to $1,595,236².

Then we have to add the costs from building refuge islands which we will say was around $20,000 each, where there are two. I am assuming that there will be no need to make any more changes to water or sewer lines or any other utility.

So that means –

Total Cost: ~ $1,635,236 (since there be changes for the paint, length of the zebra crossing, and traffic stripes)

The contractor also has four subcontractors that they use for landscaping, electrical, surrey seal (resealing the pavement from any cracks), and stripe/signs. With the contractor estimating that about 44% of the work will be done by these subcontractors.

So that means that this can be the estimated cost for other such intersections within Fremont.

Now there are some ways to reduce these costs which I have discussed in previous blogs, so let’s look at ways for local governments to get funding. Many grants, unfortunately, are given to cities that have a high amount of pedestrian collisions. Action is only prompted when the problem goes out of control, such as what happened to Fremont & Mowry which had 8 fatal collisions for pedestrians and cyclists over four years. The big four grants are Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)⁵, Transportation Development Act (TDA), State Transit Assistance (STA)³, and Safe Streets 4 all (SS4A)⁴ that focus on alleviating the problems with dangerous roads. Let’s take a deep dive into one specifically.

The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) is a program with the purpose to achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all roads⁵. The Fremont Blvd. Complete Streets program (which created the first protected intersections in Fremont) “was funded by a HSIP grant that the City secured through a statewide competitive application process in 2016. The HSIP grant specifically funds projects that address documented safety issues and have a high ratio of safety benefits relative to the project cost” ².

That’s all for today! Hope you learned something new!

¹“Pedestrian & Bicycle Information Center.” Www.pedbikeinfo.org, www.pedbikeinfo.org/cms/downloads/Countermeasure%20Costs_Report_Nov2013.pdf.

²“Completed Public Works Projects.” City of Fremont, fremont.gov, www.fremont.gov/government/departments/public-works/public-works-projects/completed-public-works-projects. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.

³“Transportation Development Act (TDA) & State Transit Assistance (STA) | Metropolitan Transportation Commission.” Mtc.ca.gov, 17 Mar. 2021, mtc.ca.gov/funding/regional-funding/transportation-development-act-tda-state-transit-assistance-sta\. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.

⁴“Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program | US Department of Transportation.” Www.transportation.gov, www.transportation.gov/grants/SS4A.

⁵“Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) | FHWA.” Highways.dot.gov, highways.dot.gov/safety/hsip.