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This bulletin is to inform Local Public Agencies (LPAs) and Consultant Partners of two changes taking place.
1. Project Management Design Review (PMDR) will be renamed to Project Development Administration (PDA) for everything it takes to deliver a federally funded LPA project through project development.
2. Beginning October 2017, design reviews will no longer be performed by in house ADOT staff; rather, reviews will be outsourced to a team of consultant reviewers that will be on site in Phoenix. ADOT will change our business practice from "Quality Reviews" to "Compliance Reviews". This is in alignment with our culture of continuous improvement.
What does this mean?
LPAs and consultants working as an agent of LPAs are required to submit designs that meet standards. Moving forward, ADOT will not be rendering quality assurance. Our consultant reviewers will be reviewing for compliance only, e.g., "Does the design meet the requirements and standards?"
□ Yes, it is in compliance
□ No, it is not in compliance
Design plans that do not meet standards will be returned for rework. This will produce a more efficient and effective review. Moreover, we will perform a "sample" in depth review of a few projects for spot checking purposes.
This practice will be performed on every project that ADOT administers. (HURF Exchange projects are excluded from PDA.)
What does Project Development Administration consist of?
PDA covers all project-related activities involved with getting a project through development and ready for construction.
ADOT welcomes the LPA independent review of the project development deliverables since ADOT recognizes the LPA owns and maintains the infrastructure once completed.
Will ADOT still be charging a cost to get a project through development? Yes. ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 206 S. 17th Ave. | Phoenix, AZ 85007 | azdot.gov
Per the Arizona FHWA Division, actual costs associated with ADOT’s compliance review of Local Public Agency (LPA) submittals (plans, specifications, estimates, environmental documents, right-of-way certifications, utility certifications, etc.) for developing local public agency Federal-aid projects are a necessary part of the project development and authorization process, and are therefore eligible for Federal-aid participation and reimbursement as part of preliminary engineering services – as provided by 23 CFR 1.11. However, also in keeping with 23 CFR 1.11, these costs must be directly attributable and properly allocable to specific Federal-aid projects.
What does that mean to an LPA project budget?
Please continue to program the PDA cost into your federally funded project. Several of you have noted that you program enough funding to cover these costs to prevent a return to your Council or Board of Supervisors.
Should you have any questions, you may contact me at jrooney@azdot.gov or 602-206-3524.
Sincerely,
Jodi Rooney
Local Public Agency Section Manager
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