City of Fort Smith and Frontier Metropolitan Planning Organization Request for Qualifications City of Fort Smith Traffic and Truck Study

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Alison Jacobs
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1 City of Fort Smith and Frontier Metropolitan Planning Organization Request for Qualifications City of Fort Smith Traffic and Truck Study Date: January 10, 2018 Response Due: February 21 at 5:00 p.m. CDT The City of Fort Smith in coordination with the Frontier Metropolitan Planning Organization seeks the services of one or more consultants for the following study: City of Fort Smith Downtown Traffic and Truck Study SCOPE OF WORK The contractor and Frontier MPO staff will work with the City of Fort Smith, the 64.6 Organization (Propelling Downtown Forward), and the Arkansas Department of Transportation along with other key freight and commercial business district stakeholders to study downtown truck traffic and create a plan to alleviate thru traffic. In specific, U.S. Highway 64, Garrison Avenue, State Hwy 255, Riverfront Drive, Wheeler, North A Street, North B Street, North 4 th Street, North 5th Street, State Hwy 71, among others. A robust public participation effort is expected. See Appendix A for the Fort Smith Truck By-Pass Routes, downtown districts, and study area issues and assets. In order to understand how truck traffic is traveling through downtown, the study shall identify the types of trucks, truck traffic counts, level of use on downtown facilities, patterns/direction of travel, and peak times of travel. American Trucking Research Institute origin and destination data will assist in understanding truck movement patterns. Data collection methodology will focus on large trucks, and tractor trailer combinations. The objective of this study is to determine the truck traffic using the downtown corridor and their effect on road space, and downtown accessibility. Video cameras, and other traffic counting devices may be deployed. The data results must be easily communicated to the public, stakeholders, the Arkansas Department of Transportation, and interested parties. Equally, impacts to trucking industry such as restricting commercial vehicles on non-downtown routes or the additional cost of indirect routes will be examined. Also, the impacts of alternative routes to local shippers and manufacturers receiving deliveries will be analyzed. This could be accomplish through oneon-one interviews. Additionally, the study will summarize how truck drivers select their routes. Also, the evaluation of the effect of freight trucks to pedestrians, bicyclists, vehicle parking, and the downtown commercial business district will be presented. A review of zoning and future land use in downtown Fort Smith should be conducted. Recommendations for safe alternative routes, needed freight infrastructure projects, or other mitigation efforts will be proposed as part of the study. The contractor will provide at least three alternatives (plus no action) with cost estimates for property acquisition, right-of-way, and utilities. These alternative routes must meet or exceed current state standards set by U.S. 64/Garrison Avenue. Impacts to alternative routes, such as forecasted truck traffic, and other elements should be considered. Also, the alternative route selections should include at a minimum, the number of traffic control devices, the length, and the time to travel. 1

2 Secondly, the study will also include a traffic evaluation of the recommended downtown mobility improvements which include the implementation of two-way street conversions and open space areas noted in the Propelling Downtown Forward Study, a copy of the referenced pages is included in Appendix B. To view the entire plan, see Forward_%20July-2017-V4-reduced.pd. These routes include: 1. North A & B Streets corridor conversion to two-way streets along with the expansion of Cisterna Park into Garrison Plaza (see page 25 Cisterna and pages 47-48); 2. North 10 th and 11 th Streets corridor conversion to two-way streets to include Alternative 2: A Revitalized Gateway from Grand Avenue (See page th & 11 th Streets and pages 49-52; 3. Followed by Towson Avenue, and Riverfront Drive (See page 25 The Riverfront, page 26 Medical Area/Towson Avenue, and pages STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS REQUIREMENTS The RFQ will permit the City of Fort Smith and the Frontier Metropolitan Planning Organization to seek the most qualified respondents for this study. The Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) shall be limited to 15 pages in length excluding the cover letter. The SOQ will address the firm s specific experience in truck traffic analysis for downtown commercial areas with interstate facilities. The RFQ shall contain the following: clear understanding of the project, level of experience related to this type of work, project management qualifications, and ability to complete the project within the specified timeframe. A summary of why the firm should be selected and the address and contact details for each party in the proposal must be included. The SOQ will contain personnel resumes and a description of five (5) relevant projects and a minimum of three (3) professional recommendations. The SOQ will be prepared on the Respondent s letterhead and identify the full legal name and address of the Respondent. The Respondent is defined as the legal entity that may execute any resulting contract with the City of Fort Smith. The letter must be (1) be signed by an authorized representative of the Respondent s organization, and (2) identify the individual who will serve as the point of contact for the Respondent. EVALUATION The City of Fort Smith and Frontier MPO s objective is to select the highest qualified firm for the services to be rendered, at compensation determined as fair and reasonable. Respondents will be evaluated in a two-part process. First, at least three (3) top firms will be selected to submit proposals for the City of Fort Smith Traffic and Truck Study. Second, the top ranked firms proposals will be evaluated in combination with their qualifications. Consultants are invited to respond to the study individually, or to propose a team to respond to the study that the firms are qualified to undertake. 2

3 SCORING The City of Fort Smith, Frontier MPO staff, and other related persons will independently rate and score each SOQ using the following criteria: 1. Knowledge and Experience 20 points 2. Professional Qualifications/Staff 20 points 3. Capacity to Perform Work 15 points 4. Professional References 20 points 5. Past Work Performance 15 points 6. Professional Reputation* 10 points *Responsiveness to Civil Rights, 100 POINTS DBE, Equal Opportunity, Federal, and State requirements. The evaluation team will assign up to the maximum points noted above to each criterion based on the respondent submittals. Respondents will then be ranked according to their total cumulative points. The RFQ is issued on January 10, Four sets of paper responses and a copy in PDF format on Compact Disc (CD). Must be received no later than 5:00 P.M. (CDT) on February 21, Responses received after the deadline will not be considered. All terms and conditions included shall be applicable to the study listed and undertaken in this Request for Qualifications (RFQ). This project is a component of the Frontier MPO FY2018 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP). The UPWP is available for review at Work is expected to begin in March 2018 and must be completed by December, No agreement for this work shall be executed until all approvals and funding are in place. The point of contact (POC) for responses to the RFQ shall be Reese M. Brewer, Frontier MPO. All communications with the POC about the project shall be addressed to: Reese M. Brewer Transportation Director, Frontier MPO Western Arkansas Planning and Development District 1109 S. 16 th Street P.O.B 2067 Fort Smith, AR rbrewer@wapdd.org The City of Fort Smith is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer 3

4 APPENDIX A: CITY OF FORT SMITH TRUCK ROUTES CITY OF FORT SMITH CENTRAL BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT & DOWNTOWN DISTRICT CITY OF FORT SMITH DOWNTOWN ISSUES & ASSETS 4