alamo rma 2010 annual report

AnnuA l R e poRt 2 0 1 0

breakingground

an interchange, a Super Street, ongoing environmental studiesand much more kept us busy during 2010, and help make 2010 the year when our community finally saw some relief on uS 281, and relief in sight for one of the worst intersections in bexar County.

during 2010, the alamo rMa focused our attention and time on delivering new projects, new ideas and new concepts to our friends, neighbors, and fellow residents, keeping our mission of Moving People Faster in the forefront of all our thoughts and actions.

How have we done all of this in 2010? none of this would have been possible without the support of our community and our elected leadership. none of this would have been able to be implemented without the creativity of our staff and consultants. none of this would have been thinkable without people willing to be outside of the box, able to see the forest and the trees at the same time.

its not an easy road ahead of us, by any means, and with 2011 we know there are still some tough choices to be made but we are in a better position today to face those challenges with renewed confidence and strength.

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year inreview

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Mark Blackwel l , San Antonio Express/ZUMA

US 281 SUper Street

Its a new idea for texas. Its an idea that sounds counter to what we are used to you have to take a right to go left. And while you might want to go just across the road, to make the road work faster you are going to have to take a right, then use a u-turn to get what just used to be a straight across shot.

But for the US 281 corridor, the US 281 Super Street has shown itself to be a benefit, one that is restoring time back to drivers and allowing people to actually do more than just spend hours waiting in traffic on a daily basis. Started in March, the US 281 Super Street was the first construction project of the Alamo rMA, and when the last intersection opened to traffic in October, traffic on US 281 was moving, faster than it had in years. With the rainy spring and early summer of 2010, the Super Street schedule slipped slightly but the end product has been worth it, according to the majority of drivers on the corridor.

the Alamo rMA continues to monitor the traffic on the US 281 Super Street to help improve the signal timing on this corridor and will be turning this project over to the texas Department of transportation and the City of San Antonio for future performance evaluations and modifications.

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US 281 / LOOp 1604 InterChAnge

Ask people to name the worst intersection in town, and the majority will say 281 and 1604. Ask people to name the most accident-prone intersection in town, and the majority will say 281 and 1604. Ask people to name a spot in town that they try to avoid and the answer will probably be the same. In 2009, with the passage of the American recovery and reinvestment Act, our community was able to secure funding to help fix this problem intersection, and bring relief to one of the most congested parts of our region.

With $20 Million in federal stimulus funding from the San Antonio Bexar County Metropolitan planning Organization on this project, the Alamo rMA, working with local and state leaders, was able to secure an additional $120 Million in state and federal funding to bring this non-toll interchange project forward.

In March 2010, with environmental clearance in hand from the Federal highway Administration, the 281/ 1604 Interchange project was awarded to Williams Brothers Construction Company under a Design/Build contract a competitive process which is judged on fee, technical skill and experience and a guaranteed timeline to complete the project.

When the contract started in May 2010, the timeline was set so by november 2012 the four connectors linking 281 and 1604 should be open to traffic and helping provide relief for over 50,000 vehicles a day in this intersection.

As part of the Design / Build contract competitive process, Williams Brother Construction Company proposed a change in the 281 / 1604 design, which will still build the needed connections, but save time and money by not requiring the closure of the existing 1604 exit from US 281 heading north, and by not having to remove and rebuild some of the bridges that cross over US 281. this change, a left lane exit for the direct connectors, instead of the traditional right lane exit, will also help decrease the amount of impervious cover with the project improvements!

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LOOp 1604 WeSt IMprOveMentS SUper Street & UnDerpASS At Sh 151/LOOp 1604

Its easy to think that the only traffic in our region is at 281 and 1604. that area has gotten the bulk of the attention over the last few years with news stories, lawsuits, and controversy. But what about the northwest and western parts of our community? From Ih 10 to Sh 151 along Loop 1604 a larger traffic jam has been building quickly building at that which is crying out for some type of relief as soon as possible.

With the growth happening Westover hills, a number of new companies relocating and expanding in the area, and the growth being experienced by the northside Independent School District growing at the rate of a classroom full of students a day according to official statements local elected leadership recognized that an interim fix is needed for this part of 1604 to help until the environmental Impact Statement can be completed.

With the leadership of State representative Jose Menendez, County Commissioners paul elizondo and Chico rodriguez, and City Councilman ray Lopez a plan was developed that involved a multiple level, multiple entity partnership to help bring relief for drivers on this side of our community. Loop 1604 from Braun road to Sh 151 is to be the second Super Street in San Antonio and the second Super Street in texas funded by the American recovery and reinvestment Act and other local funds.

Under a creative partnership, Bexar County through the Advanced transportation District, provided the funding for all environmental clearances and design work to be done by the Alamo rMA, while the texas Department of transportation agreed to fund the construction of the Loop 1604 Super Street and oversee the construction and management of the project. environmentally cleared in September 2010, the Loop 1604 Super Street is anticipated to have construction completed by August 2011 helping to reduce delay and congestion in the highest congested corridor in our region, according to the texas transportation Institute.

As a second phase of the improvements for this part of town and using the same creative partnership, funds were identified to environmentally clear the long awaited Loop 1604 at Sh 151 Underpass a project which will take Sh 151 under Loop 1604 and tie in to the exiting Alamo ranch parkway helping clear up another bottleneck that has resulted from the growth and expansion in this area.

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US 281 envIrOnMentAL IMpACt StAteMent

Its hard to see the progress being made on a long-term solution for US 281 when construction isnt happening but the critical and crucial environmental clearance needed to find a long-term solution for US 281 traffic made tremendous gains in 2010.

In April 2010 over 100 people joined together for the third public scoping meeting on US 281 looking at and examining three different proposed Build alternatives, including non-toll, toll and managed lane options.

Unlike past meetings on 281, which at times resembled some of the health care debates of 2010, the three scoping meetings held for this environmental study (two in 2009 and one in 2010) were great exchanges of ideas and dialogues between the community and the study team working to find viable solutions to help solve traffic problems that have plagued this corridor for years. today, the US 281 eIS has three different build alternatives under examination and consideration as part of the environmental clearance process.

the Alamo rMA anticipates having a public hearing on the US 281 eIS process in late 2011 and moving to environmental clearance on a preferred alternative in early 2012.

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OptiOn 1 Overpass and expansiOn alternative limited access highwaymeans less construction costless need for additional right-of-wayless impervious cover But with limited access roadsnew driveways and intersections could occur costs, right-of-way and impervious cover would increase if some access roads are provided access rights for some properties may have to be acquiredthe highway would be more congested and operate at lower speeds Option 1 was presented in October 2010 and is undergoing additional refinement.

OptiOn 2 express alternative Main lanes with continuous one-way frontage roads provide safe access for driveways and side streetsseparate local traffic from through (main lane) trafficallow the main lanes to be less congested and provide higher speedsreduce high speed conflict points and lower crash ratesBut with main lanes and continuous one-wayfrontage roadsconstruction costs are higheradditional right-of-way is neededmore impervious cover is required

OptiOn 3 elevated expressway alternativeMain lanes on continuous bridgesmean less additional right-of-way and impervious coverallow most of the existing pavement to remain asaccess roads separate local traffic from through (main lane) trafficallow the main lanes to be less congested and operate at higher speedsreduce high speed conflict points and lower crash ratesBut main lanes on continuous bridgesmean higher construction costfewer on- and off-ramps for the elevated main lanes

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OptiOn 1

Add general purpose

lanes to the center

median throughout the

corridor

OptiOn 2

Add managed lanes

throughout the corridor

with potential barrier

separations.

(toll or non toll)

OptiOn 3

Add elevated lanes

throughout the corridor.

(toll or non toll)

LOOp 1604 envIrOnMentAL IMpACt StAteMent

how do you improve almost 36 miles of roadway - roadway that crosses the edwards Aquifer recharge Zone, roadway that provides access to some of the largest headquarters, shopping, and growing areas in our community? how do you improve a roadway that for years had the nickname of the Death Loop? these questions and tons more are all part of the ongoing Loop 1604 environmental Impact Statement. During 2010, the Loop 1604 study moved forward with the identification of three different build alternatives all of which could be non-toll, toll or managed lanes at the end of the project. In April 2010, the Loop 1604 eIS had the second public scoping meeting held three times across the corridor to gain public insight and comment on the proposed alternatives (add graphics and brief description below). today, the Alamo rMA continues to evaluate the three options, and is working closely with federal, state and local agencies on the potential impact each alternative could have on our community. Key to this evaluation is working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, as an example, to help determine what type of mitigation measures may be necessary to improve 1604 while protecting the endangered species that call our edwards Aquifer home.

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The More for Loop 1604 Project received a social media award in 2010 from the American Planning Association for the

Best use of Technologyfor Public Participation

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on october 1, 2008, when environmental clearance was withdrawn for the uS 281 north Toll project, the world changed for the alamo rMa. we took a step back, and took a new role in the development of needed projects for our community by becoming the lead local agency overseeing and working daily on the environmental impact statements for uS 281 and for Loop 1604.

Since then, we have launched both environmental impact statements; we have helped secure funding for the uS 281 Super Street, the Loop 1604 Super Street and underpass environmental Studies, and the uS 281 / Loop 1604 interchange. we continue to pursue all available funding possible for our region from federal and state sources, and continue to work closely with our local elected officials to ensure that the needed projects for our region keep moving forward.

what does 2011 hold for us? The start of construction, hopefully, on the long-awaited uS 281 / Loop 1604 interchange and the finalizing of the uS 281 eiS and Loop 1604 eiS.

2010 was a banner year for the alamo rMa.

2011 looks to be even busier which is great as we look forward to final environmental clearance in 2012 for uS 281 and Loop 1604 with construction on those projects just around the corner we have some big challenges left ahead of us and we are ready for that challenge.

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AnnuAl FinAnciAl RepoRtFoR the YeARs ended septembeR 30, 2010 And 2009

AnnUAL FInAnCIAL repOrtFOr the yeArS enDeD SepteMBer 30, 2010 & 2009

independent AuditoRs RepoRt

board of directorsAlamo Regional mobility Authority san Antonio, texas

We have audited the accompanying basic financial statements of the Alamo Regional mobility Authority (the Authority), as of and for the years ended september 30, 2010 and 2009. these financial statements are the responsibility of the Authoritys management. our responsibility is to express an opinion on these basic financial statements based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the united states of America. those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the basic financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the basic financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

in our opinion, the basic financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Authority as of september 30, 2010 and 2009, and the changes in net assets and cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the united states of America.

in accordance with Government Auditing Standards, we have also issued our report dated december 20, 2010, on our consideration of the Authoritys internal control over financial reporting and on our tests of its compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements and other matters. the purpose of that report is to describe the scope of our testing of internal control over financial reporting and compliance and the results of that testing, and not to provide an opinion on the internal control over financial reporting or on compliance. that report is an integral part of an audit performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and should be considered in assessing the results of our audit.

the managements discussion and Analysis and the pension and Retirement plan schedule of Funding progress, as listed in the table of contents, were not a required part of the basic financial statements but is supplementary information required by accounting principles generally accepted in the united states of America. We have applied certain limited procedures, which consisted principally of inquiries of management regarding the methods of measurement and presentation of the required supplemental information. however, we did not audit the information and express no opinion on it.

our audits were conducted for the purpose of forming opinions on the basic financial statements of the Authority, taken as a whole. the accompanying schedule of expenditures of Federal and state Awards is presented for purposes of additional analysis as required by the u.s. office of management and budget circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations, and The State of Texas Single Audit Circular, and is also not a required part of the basic financial statements. such information has been subjected to the auditing procedures applied in the audit of the basic financial statements and, in our opinion, is fairly stated, in all material respects, in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole.

december 20, 2010

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alamo rma 2010 annual report

Documents

super street schedule

alamo rma

mission of moving people

new projects

new concepts

new ideas

problem intersection

accidentprone intersection