DEPARTMENT: Transportation
FILE TYPE: Consent Action
TITLE
title
Authorization To Execute First Contract Amendment With SRF Consulting Group, Inc., For Design Of Interchange Improvements At County State Aid Highway 50 And Interstate 35 In Lakeville, To Accept Local Road Improvement Program Grant Agreement Funds And Amend 2025 Adopted Budget, County Project 50-33
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PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
• Authorize the execution of a first contract amendment with SRF Consulting Group, Inc. (SRF) for consulting services for interchange improvements at the junction of County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 50, CSAH 5, and Interstate 35 (I-35), County Project (CP) 50-33 in Lakeville.
• Authorize acceptance of Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP) Grant Agreement Funds by amendment from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to support the amended preliminary design contract.
• Authorize the amendment of the 2025 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Adopted Budget to account for acceptance of total LRIP Grant funds.
SUMMARY
To provide a safe and efficient transportation system, staff proceeded with work on County Project 50-33 under Contract No. DCA21560, authorized by Resolution No. 24-204 (April 23, 2024), which also confirmed the use of State of Minnesota grant funds to reimburse contract costs. The project is consistent with the adopted Capital Improvement Program and project development needs at the junction of I-35 and CSAH 50/5 in Lakeville (Attachment: Project Location Map). County Project 50-33 will address roadway safety and mobility needs at the major junction, including replacement of State, County, and City roadway infrastructure and I-35 bridges.
Preliminary design work has been underway since April 2024, with County staff working in partnership with the City of Lakeville and MnDOT. The above-referenced Contract No. DCA21560 is a preliminary design contract with consultant SRF for an amount not to exceed $1,466,232. County staff presented a project update to the Physical Development Committee on November 19, 2024, and received authorization to submit the recommended layout to MnDOT for review by Resolution No. 25-067 (January 21, 2025). The interchange project is planned for 2028-2029 construction, with current technical progress tracking on this timeline, assuming sufficient funding. Recent work has confirmed that the recommended Diverging Diamond Interchange design is reasonable based on MnDOT technical reviews, and the project will be presented to the public at an open house scheduled for June 18, 2025.
The completed preliminary design work has included the analysis of many alternatives and details. SRF has been responsive to questions and has provided estimates of scope changes to Dakota County’s project manager before initiating additional work. Staff has worked with the consultant, MnDOT, and City representatives to address detailed questions on traffic operations and related preliminary design features. The team and SRF also identified opportunities to address project design questions with selected business stakeholders, confirm environmental conditions, and prepare for possible early implementation of key design elements. Based on these factors, staff and SRF have negotiated additional out-of-scope and expanded services by task totaling $344,030, resulting in a total amended contract value of $1,810,262. This total amended contract value is within the expected range for engineering design services based on recent estimates for project construction.
The professional services not anticipated within the original scope or now changed were documented in detail by the consultant (Attachment: SRF Amendment Letter). The additional or reduced work by task includes the following (with subtotals):
• Additional project management and design coordination services based on extending the contract schedule by 11 months, with the need to coordinate technical details for added scope (+$35,064.90).
• Additional public involvement efforts and expanded work with specific business property owners, including one additional public open house meeting, resulting in four public meetings now planned instead of three (+$9,215.78).
• Additional traffic studies and modeling to understand the complex operations of the freeway interchange, including current work with MnDOT technical reviewers to address signal phasing and to confirm safe and efficient operations for high traffic volumes into future decades (+$167,832.00).
• Reduced field survey efforts vs. the baseline SRF contract based on reduced locations to survey and possible MnDOT survey data to be shared in 2025 (-$39,752.21)
• Net budget increase for preliminary engineering design of the interchange layout, including (a) reduced effort for evaluation of alternatives, which was work completed in 2024 based on an aggressive schedule and less effort now planned for preliminary bridge design than originally scoped and (b) the addition of effort for preliminary design of the diverging diamond layout, addressing selected design details more closely than typical to address questions and confirm that project performance goals are addressed (+$18,932.05).
• Additional effort anticipated for coordination with the Federal Highway Administration and MnDOT, based on new technical guidance, to address the planned modifications to interstate highway access (+$8,223.77).
• Additional work to complete preliminary aesthetic design guidance for the project, including related design objectives and reference to (a) MnDOT bridge/other aesthetic cost participation guidance and (b) Dakota County’s cost participation policy for possible enhancements on the County roadway corridor (+$12,692.30).
• Reduced effort for railroad company coordination as assumed in the original contract, based on design recommendations not including replacement of the I-35 bridges over the Canadian Pacific railroad corridor (-$6,185.81).
• Net budget increase for subconsultant review of environmental concerns at specific private properties within the design footprint, including (a) minor reduction in effort for phase I documentation work vs. the baseline SRF contract and (b) the addition of specific new phase II scope involving asbestos investigation of bridges and environmental sampling at recommended properties (+$108,397.00).
• Additional work to address the opportunity to construct permanent intersection improvements at CSAH 5 and Kenyon Avenue as a stand-alone intersection improvement project in 2027 to also fit with later construction of the interchange project to the southeast (+$29,610.36).
The current Dakota County Contract No. DCA21560 is supported by an LRIP Grant Agreement (DCA21726) up to $1,466,232, the original contract not-to-exceed value. Based on coordination with MnDOT, the LRIP Grant source has a remaining balance available for CP 50-033 of $206,768 (Minnesota Laws 2021, First Special Session, Chapter 5, Article 1, Section 6). Therefore, staff recommends amending the LRIP Grant Agreement to accept the remaining balance against the Amendment No. 1 increment of $344,030, resulting in a net estimated cost of $137,262 for County and City capital budgets, or approximately 7.6 percent of the total amended contract value.
RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
Staff recommends authorizing the first contract amendment with SRF, which would increase the not-to-exceed amount from $1,466,232 to $1,810,262 (an increase of $344,030) to address net additions to the scope and services for preliminary engineering for Contract Number DCA21560. Additionally, staff recommends amending the current LRIP Grant Agreement to accept the remaining balance of $206,768, for a not-to-exceed LRIP Grant amount of $1,673,000, to cover part of the Amendment No. 1 increment. Lastly, staff recommends amending the 2025 Transportation CIP Adopted Budget for CP 50-33 to account for the total of LRIP Grant funds to be received for CP 50-033.
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EXPLANATION OF FISCAL/FTE IMPACTS
The local cost share for CP 50-33 consulting services is 85 percent County and 15 percent City of Lakeville and will be applied to any remaining contract amounts not reimbursed by the LRIP Grant. Sufficient funds are available to continue the preliminary engineering work and to begin final engineering, including a 2023 federal appropriation of $5,040,000 planned for use in final design engineering (20% matching funds required). A budget amendment is necessary to account for the revised total of LRIP Grant funding, now $1,673,000, as state budget dollars versus the current CIP budget of $700,000 in state funds, a net budget increase of $973,000.
☐ None ☐ Current budget ☐ Other
☒ Amendment Requested ☐ New FTE(s) requested
RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, to provide a safe and efficient transportation system, Dakota County is proceeding with County Project (CP) 50-33; and
WHEREAS, CP 50-33 is the improvement of the interchange at the junction of County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 50/CSAH 5 and I-35 in Lakeville; and
WHEREAS, by Resolution No. 24-204 (April 23, 2024), the Dakota County Board of Commissioners authorized the execution of a preliminary design services contract with consultant SRF Consulting Group, Inc., (SRF) to perform preliminary and final design engineering services for a total contract amount not to exceed $1,466,232; and
WHEREAS, the cost of the net scope adjustments and additions to be performed by SRF is $344,030, resulting in a new contract amount not to exceed $1,810,262; and
WHEREAS, the County Engineer recommends executing the first contract amendment with SRF for Contract Number DCA21560 for preliminary engineering of CP 50-33; and
WHEREAS, City of Lakeville and Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) staff concur with this recommendation; and
WHEREAS, MnDOT has authorized Dakota County to advance the Project using Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP) Grant funds, which have been used to reimburse Dakota County for contract costs with reference to a Grant Agreement number and a State Aid Project number; and
WHEREAS, the amount of the LRIP grant funding available for CP 50-33 is $206,768; and
WHEREAS, MnDOT requires a Dakota County Board Resolution to authorize an amendment of the LRIP Grant Agreement; and
WHEREAS, staff recommends amending the LRIP Grant Agreement to accept the remaining available balance of $206,768; and
WHEREAS, the 2025 Capital Improvement Program Adopted Budget requires an amendment to account for the total LRIP Grant funds received, now $1,673,000, as state budget dollars versus the current CIP budget of $700,000 in state funds, a net budget increase of $973,000.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Dakota County Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes the Physical Development Director to amend the not-to-exceed contract value of $1,466,232 for Contract Number DCA21560 with SRF Consulting Group, Inc., for County Project 50-33 to a total contract amount not to exceed $1,810,262 including reimbursables; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Dakota County Board of Commissioners hereby authorizes the County Engineer/Transportation Division Director to amend the grant agreement to accept the remaining balance of $206,768; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Dakota County Board of Commissioners hereby agrees to the terms and conditions of the grant consistent with Minnesota Statutes §, section 174.52, and will pay the additional amount by which the cost exceeds the estimate and will return to the Local Road Improvement Program Fund any amount appropriated for the project but not required; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the 2025 Capital Improvement Program budget is hereby amended as follows:
Expense
CP 50-33 $973,000
Total Expense $973,000
Revenue
Local Road Improvement Program Grant $973,000
Total Revenue $973,000
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PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION
24-204; 5/23/24
25-067; 1/21/25
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment: Project Location Map
Attachment: SRF Amendment Letter
BOARD GOALS
☐ Thriving People ☐ A Healthy Environment with Quality Natural Resources
☒ A Successful Place for Business and Jobs ☐ Excellence in Public Service
CONTACT
Department Head: Erin Laberee
Author: Doug Abere