Request for proposal

East Windsor Township

Transportation and Community Development Initiative

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL


Project Background

East Windsor Township is a growing suburban community in northeast Mercer County that enjoys easy access to the regional highway system. The Township is served by State Highway Route 130, the New Jersey Turnpike (at Exit 8), and State Route 33. County Route 571, which intersects with the relatively new State Route 133 Bypass connecting to Route 33, is a major east-west connector road to heavily developed U.S. Route 1 in West Windsor Township.

The Township has experienced rapid growth, made possible by the availability of additional sewage capacity in 1993 after an 8-year State-imposed moratorium on new construction resulting from the lack of sewer treatment capacity. Numerous residential subdivisions have been completed and additional developments are under construction. Commercial growth has been especially vigorous in the Township’s Route 130 retail corridor. A significant amount of office and lab space development also has taken place along the Township’s Route 571 corridor and the Exit 8 area of the N.J. Turnpike.
Given the Township’s location in the regional highway network and significant growth over the past decade, traffic congestion and the adequacy of the existing road network is a growing concern in East Windsor. Easy accessibility to the regional highway system without significant traffic congestion has been one of the Township’s major attractions for new businesses and residents. The Township seeks to avoid increased congestion to maintain its quality of life and attractiveness as a suburban community. Since there has been much growth and there continues to be a potential for significant commercial growth in East Windsor over the next 10 years, the Township desires to formulate an up-to-date plan for implementing transportation related improvements, which includes identification of improvements and a priority ranking of those improvements.
While the Township’s Master Plan and a companion traffic infrastructure study identify proposed transportation improvements, the study originally was developed in 1990, and was based on development projections that are outdated. The proposed project is to provide an overall traffic infrastructure impact analysis that is based on current conditions and projected growth in East Windsor Township over at least the next 10 years.
The proposed transportation plan would become part of the Township’s Traffic Circulation Plan, which is an element in the Township Master Plan. The plan will not be merely a planning document, but will be an action plan for use in beginning to make recommended improvements after plan completion. The document will be used as a basis for implementing traffic improvements through developer contributions for new developments.


Efforts to Date to Address the Problem
East Windsor Township has been a pioneering community in assessing traffic impact fees for new development projects. In the early 1990’s, the Township adopted an ordinance that required developers to make a contribution to a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Fund which would be used for off-site traffic improvements throughout the Township. Under this ordinance, developers over the past 10 years have made contributions to the TIP Fund based on a contribution formula derived from a 1990 traffic consultant’s report. This report, entitled “traffic infrastructure impact analysis,” included traffic projections based on anticipated development and a list of proposed traffic improvements and costs. The proposed work product would supercede this analysis based on current conditions and development projections.

Scope of Work
The proposed scope of work for the project includes the following:

1. 
   Analysis of current and projected traffic volumes resulting from current and
   

potential development based on available land and zoning requirements. The analysis also should take into account proposed sewage treatment capacity. The Township’s Municipal Utilities Authority currently has an application before the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection which would increase capacity from 3.35 millions gallons per day to 4.5 million gallons per day.

2. 
   Review of development activity in the Township since 1990 and the lifting of
   

the 8 year moratorium on development due to lack of sewage capacity.

2. 
   Estimate type and scale of development anticipated over at least the next 10
   

years.

4. 
   Identify specific roadway and intersection improvements necessary to
   

accommodate current and anticipated future traffic.

4. 
   Develop cost estimates for each proposed improvement and indicate the
   

percentage and amount of that cost which is to be shared between the public and private sectors depending on the percentage of traffic attributed to new development. Costs associated with new development would be covered by developer contributions to the Transportation Improvement Fund.
6. Based on the private sector share of total improvement costs for the entire

Township, develop an allocation of costs per square foot of new development based on the type of commercial and residential development and traffic volumes associated with different types development. For commercial developments, various allocations per square foot would be appropriate for the following uses: retail, office, lab, fast food restaurant, and warehouse. For residential developments, separate allocations would be appropriate for single family and multi-family developments.

7. Develop a priority ranking for traffic improvement projects based on current

and projected traffic volumes and level of service, as well as other relevant considerations such as traffic safety and the timing of anticipated development.

Public Presentations
During the course of the consultant’s contract, the consultant, as directed by the Mayor and Council, is to make at least one public presentation of preliminary observations and analysis and solicit comment from the Township Council, Planning Board, and Township residents and businesses. A final presentation of the completed report shall be made, as directed by the Mayor and Council, to the Township Council and/or Planning Board at a public meeting.

Deliverables
The project’s end result will be a traffic infrastructure impact report that will become incorporated into the Traffic Circulation Plan of the Township’s Master Plan. The text of the Traffic Circulation Plan also will be revised so that it is consistent with the traffic impact and infrastructure report.

Project Schedule
The proposed project schedule is as follows:
Task Timeline
Start work Within 10 days of execution

of contract.

Prepare draft report Within 6 months
Review of draft report by Township Within 8 months

Mayor and Council

Submit final report Within 10 months

Proposal Content Requirements
Firms submitting a proposal should submit the following:

1. 
   Statement of qualifications and experience of firm
   

2. 
   Statement of qualifications and experience of persons directly
   

involved with the project and what specific responsibilities will be assigned

to those individuals. Include names and resumes.

3. 
   Description of project approach and methods for generating data described in
   

the Scope of Work.
4. Schedule for various phases of the project.
5. Fixed fee for entire project and payment schedule for various phases of the

work. Include hourly rates for project personnel.

Proposal Submission Requirements
Ten copies of the proposal should be submitted by 4:30 p.m., Friday, January 28,

2005. Proposals should be mailed or delivered to:

Mayor Janice S. Mironov

East Windsor Township

16 Lanning Blvd.

East Windsor, NJ 08520

Evaluation of Proposals

The evaluation of proposals will be based on the following factors:

1. 
   Experience of the firm with similar projects
   

This section should reference the firm’s experience with area-wide traffic impact studies for municipalities, and preparing traffic circulation elements for municipal master plans. Provide at least three references.

2. 
   Experience of the project team with similar projects and qualifications
   

This section should include the names of staff assigned to the project, their resumes, specific responsibilities for this project, and work experience, if any, with similar projects.

3. 
   Responsiveness to scope of work and proposed tasks
   

The proposal should address all of the items in the scope of work, how the firm proposes to gather and compile data, and a description of the various tasks to be undertaken for each item in the scope of work.

4. 
   Overall fee for the project.
   

The overall fee should not exceed the project budget of $100,000. The fee will not be the primary factor in evaluating project. Invoicing shall reflect the amount of work performed during the billing period based upon the agreed-upon schedule of values. Quarterly progress reports will be required.