Accelerated Capital Improvement Program (ACIP). This
is an important consideration when determining which
capital projects should be constructed concurrently with the
individual undergrounding phases since the undergrounding
program will continue past 2019. There is also a desire to
construct capital projects that are funded from alternate
sources with the undergrounding program to take advantage
of the restoration cost sharing involved.
In general, capital projects that are expected to have
significant roadway impacts should be constructed in
conjunction with the undergrounding program to the greatest
extent practical. However, a balance needs to be struck so that
there is not so much infrastructure work in any one phase
that it impacts the ability to complete the undergrounding
work elements within the program’s established schedule.
Additionally, projects that are required due to public health,
safety, and welfare needs should be implemented quickly
and not necessarily delayed to be coincident with a phase of
undergrounding.
Many of the non-bond funded “PayGo” projects are relatively
small in scope and/or are located such that roadway impacts
are minimal or have a brief schedule duration. Therefore,
these projects are recommended to be constructed in
TOWN-WIDE UNDERGROUNDING OF UTILITIES PROGRAM
MASTER PLAN DOCUMENT
accordance with their previously planned programming
schedules.
There are also a number of identified projects that lack
funding at this time. These projects are identified as “On
Hold” and “Unfunded” on the Capital Improvement Program
Map. In the event that funding becomes available for any
of the unfunded projects prior to the construction of the
corresponding undergrounding program phase area, this
master plan recommends that these infrastructure projects be
constructed in conjunction with that undergrounding phase.
This will allow for additional restoration cost sharing benefits.
Town of Palm Beach Shore Protection Program
The Town conducts on an ongoing basis, an active Shore
Protection program in order to protect the coastline. While
there are several projects anticipated within this program that
will occur during the span of the undergrounding project, we
do not anticipate much coordination will be required between
the programs. This is because the beach renourishment
and seawall rehabilitation projects are in areas that will
not generally impact the right of way or conflict with the
undergrounding work to be performed. Beach renourishment
projects that involve truck hauls should be coordinated so the
haul route through an undergrounding phase is minimized to
reduce the impacts of additional traffic volume through the
work zone.
City of West Palm Beach Watermain Replacement
As discussed in the Data Collection section of this master
plan, the City of West Palm Beach does not currently have
a formalized program for watermain replacement within the
Town. However, they are interested in taking the opportunity
to replace aged watermains during each phase of the
undergrounding program. The budget available to perform this
work is limited to $800,000 per year, which is not sufficient
to replace all the watermains that have exceeded their useful
life within the Town. This master plan’s recommendation is to
focus on the watermains that require replacement on the east-
west cross streets in an effort to minimize impacts to the major
north-south streets. While it is recommended that the north-
south street watermains be replaced at some point in the future,
we anticipate this work would cause significant traffic impacts
for long periods of time and may slow down the progress of the
undergrounding program if performed concurrently.
If the City of West Palm Beach does develop a program
of watermain replacement during the course of the
undergrounding project, additional cost sharing opportunities
could be explored through deferral of milling and overlaying
activities until both undergrounding and watermain work is
completed.
Florida Public Utilities
FPU is currently under a federal mandate to replace all their
bare steel gas main by 2021. Representatives of FPU indicated
they were willing to be flexible in the implementation of the
remainder of their replacement program in order to better
accommodate the needs of the Town. However, this flexibility
is subject to the mandate that they replace all bare steel gas
main by 2021.
Some of the benefits of performing gas main replacement
concurrently with undergrounding include increased
scheduling coordination as well as road restoration cost
sharing. However, some potential disadvantages to working
concurrently with the undergrounding program include
longer durations of construction disruption and a potential
for increased traffic impacts. A potential disadvantage of FPU
replacing gas mains prior to the Town’s undergrounding project
is that it could result in the installation of a gas main within a
proposed utility undergrounding corridor, creating unnecessary
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