RFP # 1617-16

SECTION 2 – SCOPE OF WORK

2-1 Introduction
The Longview Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) seeks proposals from qualified proposers for the development of a Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan that will establish a comprehensive pedestrian and bicycle network for transportation and recreational purposes, for the MPO area, while promoting walkability and connectivity in an efficient and safe environment.

The Longview MPO is requesting qualifications from transportation planning and engineering consultants to create the first Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan for the Longview MPO area. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan will specify how the plan will be achieved over time and implementation strategies for the proposed policies, prioritized infrastructure improvements and related programs. The plan will reflect current conditions, levels of interest and support, as well as funding potential to accomplish the projects and programs in the plan. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan will define policies, plans and programs to help the Longview MPO area become a more walkable and bicycle friendly city while encouraging more people of all ages and abilities across the Longview MPO area to safely walk and ride bicycle more often.

The goal of this scope of work is to ensure that all proposers are fully informed of all project requirements, deliverables and obligations. This document will be used as a portion of a contract for project planning, execution; and once approved, will indicate full acceptance of the scope of work.

2-2 Background
The Longview Metropolitan Planning Organization, acting through the City of Longview Development Services Department, is responsible for continuing, comprehensive and cooperative transportation planning in the Longview Metropolitan Area as required by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The Longview MPO is governed by a Transportation Policy Board comprised of elected and non-elected officials from the cities of Longview, White Oak, and Gladewater; and from the counties of Gregg, Harrison and Upshur. The MPO Technical Committee is responsible for professional and technical review and for recommendations to the Policy Board. The Longview MPO is geographically located in the two Texas Department of Transportation's districts; the Tyler and Atlanta districts.

The Longview Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is located in Gregg, Harrison and Upshur counties and includes the cities of Longview, Lakeport, White Oak, Clarksville City, Warren City, Gladewater, Union Grove, Lakeport and East Mountain. The 2010 Longview Urbanized Area had a population of 98,884. In 2014, the Longview Metropolitan Area had a population of approximately 117,000.

Currently, there is a deficit of sidewalks in the cities of Longview, White Oak & Gladewater. This is largely due to city ordinances that have not required developers to construct sidewalks in these communities. The only bike lanes in the MPO area are currently under construction on FM 2275, the George Richey Extension project, between US 259 and SH 300, a new alignment, four-lane, divided roadway with a length of four miles.

The Longview Multimodal Center is located at 906 Pacific Avenue and consists of a city-owned Amtrak train station, a Greyhound bus station, Longview Transit headquarters and a Longview Transit bus stop. Two taxi cab companies, Yellow Checker Cab and Errands for All, currently operate in the greater Longview area.

2-3 Scope of Work
In general, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan is envisioned to consist of recommendations for a community-supported comprehensive network of sidewalks, on and off-road pathways, trails and facilities to connect neighborhood users to special generators and key destinations. Improvements that serve regional and city centers, main streets, employment centers, transit center, transit bus stops, the Longview Multimodal Center, schools, social services, retail, medical, entertainment, parks and recreational destinations will be considered. This study will recommend potential connections to existing and future roadways, sidewalks, pathways, trails, parks, open spaces, the Multimodal Center, bus stops and other significant destinations and facilities. In regards to Multimodal Center connections, projects of the plan will create more seamless connections between transit projects and pedestrian and bicycle facilities that will make the overall transportation system stronger and more useful.

This section describes the minimum services and deliverables required to complete the project.

1. Gather and assemble available GIS data. The City of Longview will provide existing Longview GIS shapefiles: parks, trails, sidewalk inventory, bus routes, bus stops, future land use, zoning, along with pedestrian and bicycle accident data.

2. Review, assess and document existing local conditions and issues related to walking and bicycling. Meet with MPO staff, city staff, Longview Transit staff and bus drivers. In the absence of a city's comprehensive plan; meet with the city managers and city staff from the cities of Gladewater, White Oak & Clarksville City. Meet with the public school's staff within the Longview metropolitan area boundary.

3. Perform walking and bicycling audits along high pedestrian and bicycle traffic areas in the cities of Longview, White Oak, Gladewater and other MPO cities where worn paths/vegetation is indicative of pedestrian traffic. Contact elementary, middle and high school campus staff within the Longview Metropolitan Area to determine an estimate of the percentage of their students who walk or bike to school. For school campuses in the MPO planning area, perform walking and bicycling audits at school campuses and surrounding neighborhoods of fifteen (15) campuses who have the highest percentage of students walking.

4. Review of the planning documents listed below. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan will be consistent with and will advance the goals and objectives of these adopted documents and plans currently under development. The plan will build upon these existing plans to establish a comprehensive pedestrian and bicycle network for recreational and transportation uses.

a. Longview Metropolitan Transportation Plan 2040

b. Longview MPO Thoroughfare Plan

c. Longview Transit Pedestrian Access Plan

d. Longview Trail Master Plan

e. Longview Comprehensive Plan adopted in 2015, with particular focus on:

i. Chapter 4: Transportation & Circulation

ii. Chapter 6: Parks, Recreation & Open Space Plan

iii. Chapter 7: Neighborhood & Community Livability

f. Two (2) Longview Small Area Plans: Downtown & Interstate 20, currently under development; and

g. The City of Longview Unified Development Code (UDC) currently under development.

5. Identify existing barriers, such as railroads, creeks, etc. and gaps in the pedestrian and bicycle network which will impede connectivity.

6. Provide renditions,"before & after" images of potential pedestrian and bicycle improvements, Complete Streets and Transit Oriented Developments along actual Longview MPO thoroughfares and along off-road trails and when recommended, road diets. Conceptual renditions, maps and other visual aids should be prepared and utilized at all workshops and public meetings.

7. Engaging and involving the public is critical to the development of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. The planning process shall combine face-to-face public meetings with the use of digital tools to enhance community participation. Conduct public involvement utilizing digital citizen surveys, open houses, workshops, social media, on-line public engagement and other public outreach methods to gather citizen input, feedback and gain community support. Community engagement may include, but is not limited to, design, creation and launch of an on-line website with citizen survey, survey equipment (iPad kiosks at public libraries, city halls, etc.), virtual public meeting or open house, interactive techniques during public meetings and other public outreach activities customized to the greater Longview MPO community. Utilize a range of public involvement methods to reach and engage diverse populations to maximize citizen input. The plan will include a documentation of all public involvement activities to describe community engagement.

8. At a minimum, a list of possible meetings, presentations and public involvement is shown below.

a. MPO Technical Committee, MPO Policy Board – initial meetings

b. Public meeting, open house or workshop format – solicit input

c. Citizen survey, hard copy and digital and/or website presence

d. MPO Technical Committee, MPO Policy Board – present draft plan & recommendations

e. Public meeting, open house format – present draft recommendations

f. MPO Technical Committee, MPO Policy Board –final plan for adoption

g. Longview City Council – presentation of adopted plan

h. White Oak and/or Gladewater city council presentations (only if desired by each city)

9. Based upon the input from the public and MPO Committees, create general policies, goals and measureable objectives for the plan.

10. Develop a project prioritization system for pedestrian and bicycle improvements based on multiple factors such as, but not limited to: connectivity to key destinations, potential to improve safety, expected number of users, public support, project readiness and project cost.

11. Determine the suitability and feasibility for urban, as well as, rural pedestrian and bicycle facilities.

a. Make recommendations for pedestrian and bicycle facilities to enhance and connect to existing sidewalks, paved trails and dirt bike trails, while promoting walkability & bicycling for both urban and rural settings. In addition, make recommendations to connect off-road trails to neighborhoods. Identify existing roadways recommended for bike lanes which have wide enough lanes to restripe for the use of bike lanes. Consider bike lanes, bike routes and Identify high, medium and low priority corridors and develop priorities and recommendations that include proposed schematics, typical cross sections and cost estimates for bicycle and pedestrian facilities and amenities.

12. Finalize renditions of potential pedestrian and bicycle recommendations and improvements, Complete Streets, Transit Oriented Developments along actual Longview MPO area thoroughfares and along off-road trails, and when recommended, road diets. Create conceptual renditions, maps and other visual aids.

13. Provide proposed schematics, typical cross sections and cost estimates for proposed Complete Streets in the MPO area and specifically, along Mobberly Ave, S. Green St, portions of Cotton St, and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The system of pedestrian and bicycle network will incorporate three (3) Complete Streets corridors, as identified in the Longview Comprehensive Plan, pages 80 – 83.

14. An implementation plan that includes, but not limited to:

a. A prioritized list of pedestrian and bicycle projects, timeframe recommendations, proposed schematics, typical cross sections and cost estimates.

b. Guidelines for selecting pedestrian and bicycle facilities for each type of roadway functional class.

c. Design and engineering standards for intersection design, bicycle parking, signage, markings and end-of-trip facilities.

d. Phase recommended projects into high, medium and low-priority.

15. An economic evaluation to suggest funding strategies for plan implementation, and ultimately, a funding plan that identifies potential funding sources, such as grants and partnerships.

16. At a minimum, copies of maps and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan are detailed as follows:

a. Five (5) hard copies of the draft plan and a digital copy of each format, as applicable: MS Word, MS Excel, Adobe, ESRI .shp, .gdb, and .mxd.

b. Fifteen (15) hard copies of the final plan and a digital copy of each format: MS Word, MS Excel, Adobe .pdf, and ESRI .shp,.gdb, and .mxd. A hard copy map and all GIS ESRI digital files of the plan graphically illustrating the plan. The map size shall be 60" x 48" and display the entire MPO planning area.

c. One hard copy map of each city: Longview, White Oak and Gladewater and all GIS ESRI digital files graphically illustrating the plan. The map size of these three (3) maps shall be 11 x 17" or larger.

The full document is available online at: LongviewTexas.gov/Bids