Upper Gwynedd Township 1 Parkside Place North Wales, PA 19454 BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION ITEM REQUEST Date: July 7, 2020 To: Board of Commissioners From: Sandra Brookley Zadell, Township Manager Re: Trail RFP Consultant Meeting Date: July 13, 2020 Background: As you know the BOC authorized an RFP for a consultant to perform the Powerline Trail Feasibility Study. We received ten responses to our RFP, and Sarah Prebis and I reviewed all 10 proposals. We narrowed those proposals down to four firms that Commissioner Damsker and Commissioner McNaney and Sarah and I then interviewed. All of the proposals were strong and interesting but, in the end, we decided to go with Michael Baker International, Inc’s proposal. Chris Stanford and his team have worked on over 100 miles of trails. Chris and his associate Michael Szilagi who will be our main team contacts are very knowledgeable with our area. Michael lives in North Wales Borough and uses our trails system currently. The firm has strong relationships and experience with trails that impact SEPTA and rail crossings (which our trails impact). Chris was the trail design professional on the 202-parkway trail and has experience acquiring easements from PECO and Delaware Valley University both of which are required with this portion of our trail system. Finally, their proposal includes the use of Wikimaps, which includes an interactive tool that residents can access on our website and social media to share their thoughts, concerns, and opinions about our plans. This forward-thinking approach utilizing technology for resident outreach was interesting to us. I have also worked with Chris Stanford in two previous municipalities. I know firsthand his dedication to public outreach and his approach with residents. He believes that the trail system belongs to the community and will design trails that work for our residents. Budget Impact: The proposal indicates the cost will be $30,000 and that is exactly what we have budgeted for this project. $15,000 of that will come from the C2P2 grant funding. Interdepartmental Action: The Parks and Recreation Department will work with the Township Manager and Chris Stanford and his team to complete the feasibility study over the next 8-12 months. Recommended Motion/Resolution/Ordinance: Motion to appoint Michael Baker International, Inc. as our consultant for the Power Line Trail Feasibility Study. May 29, 2020 Sarah A. Prebis, Parks and Recreation Director Upper Gwynedd Township, Parks and Recreation Department 1 Parkside Place North Wales, PA 19454 RE: Proposal for Powerline Trail Feasibility Study for Upper Gwynedd Township Dear Ms. Prebis, Michael Baker International, Inc. (Michael Baker), in association with Wikimapping Inc. (Wikimaps), is excited to submit this proposal for Upper Gwynedd’s Powerline Trail Feasibility Study. The Powerline Trail has been under planning and development in the County for several years in various municipalities, with some sections already successfully completed. With the acquisition of a DCNR grant, the Township is ready to take the next step with the planning and development of this important addition to the Township’s trail network. Michael Baker is ready to assist the Township with this effort. We bring the following advantages: Our bike/pedestrian team has over two decades of planning and public outreach experience with similar trail feasibility studies. Local examples include the Liberty Bell Trail Study (Lansdale Borough), New Britain Borough Rail with Trail Study, Destination Peace Valley Park Trail Feasibility Study (Doylestown/New Britain Townships), Turk Road Neighborhood Trail Study (Doylestown Township), Frankford Creek Greenway Study (City of Philadelphia), Rail Trail Feasibility Studies (City of Philadelphia), Swarthmore Borough Bicycle/Pedestrian Master Plan, Schuylkill River Trail Gap Analysis (City of Philadelphia), and several others. This extensive background gives us many lessons learned and effective approaches to trail planning and implementation, property negotiation/acquisition, public engagement, environmental permitting, and agency coordination. Michael Baker was the final design engineer for the 202 Parkway Trail in Montgomeryville. We have intimate knowledge of the public right of ways and property ownership in the SR 202/SR 63 portion of the study area. Chris Stanford, PE, PMP, PTOE, our proposed project manager for this study, was also the project manager for that 202 Parkway Trail design section. Michael Baker coordinated with PECO and Delaware Valley University for property easements/acquisition in that area. This familiarity and base of existing right of way, traffic signal design, and other engineering information will be valuable to the Township for planning this portion of the trail network and for creating a safe connection to the 202 Parkway Trail. Our 15+ years of design experience with DCNR grant-funded projects and writing winning DCNR grant applications will significantly benefit the Township. Our complete understanding of DCNR’s funding programs, design/review process, and match requirements will streamline project management for Township staff and accelerate the completion of this study. In addition, our knowledge of other grant funding programs, such as PennDOT TASA, PennDOT Multimodal, DCED Multimodal, DCED Greenways and Trails, DVRPC Regional Trails Program, and others will result in a superior implementation plan. We have extensive experience planning, designing, and gaining PUC approval for railroad crossings for trails. In recent years, we completed grade crossing modifications at three locations along SEPTA regional rail lines and two CSX rail lines, as well as coordination with SEPTA for a new grade crossing for the Pennypack Trail. Michael Baker’s Rail Transit group includes numerous former engineers and construction managers from railroad companies. Staff, such as Ed La Guardia, PE, who worked for the SEPTA railroad for 30+ years prior to joining Michael Baker, can apply AREMA railroad requirements to plan safe crossings of SEPTA’s Lansdale Doylestown Line and Stony Creek Branch railroad (currently operated by CSX). As one of PA’s largest transportation planning and engineering firms, we have extensive expertise with road/trail crossing design. We have firsthand experience with trails crossing PennDOT, County, and Township roadways of all levels of traffic volume. Our plans have ranged from simple signing and markings to rectangular rapid flashing beacons to full signals for new trails. This experience will allow for upfront coordination with PennDOT and Montgomery County, as well as 500 Office Center Drive, Suite 210, Fort Washington, PA 19034 the Township staff to plan for the right location and right level of safety improvements needed for several trail/road crossings needed for the Powerline Trail. Michael Baker has completed planning, design, and construction of over 100 miles of trails, shared use paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, shared roadways, and other bicycle infrastructure in Pennsylvania over the last 20 years. This includes experience on similar projects along Jordan Creek Greenway, Saucon Rail Trail, Liberty Bell Trolley Trail, Neshaminy Greenway, Pennypack Rail Trail, 202 Parkway Trail, Schuylkill River Trail, East Coast Greenway, and Doylestown Community Bike and Hike System, among others. Chris Stanford, PE, PMP, PTOE is a certified project management professional with over 26 years of experience successfully completing a wide range of trail, greenway, and transportation projects in southeast PA. His significant management expertise, combined with DCNR relationships and experience on similar trail studies, will be an asset to the Township. We have partnered with Jenkintown resident and avid bicyclist Steve Spindler of Wikimapping to assist with the public outreach process. Wikimaps is a cost-effective tool to gain public input on a map-based platform. The tool allows the public to indicate barriers to walking/bicycling at specific locations and to ask questions about potential trail routes. This tool could be linked to the Township’s website, social media accounts and online survey to achieve maximum input from many residents and to gain feedback that will be beneficial to the feasibility study. Michael Baker has worked extensively with Delaware Valley University for many years at the DelVal Doylestown campus, successfully negotiating trail easements and designing multi-use public trails on school property. Our experience working directly with PECO on the numerous trail and transportation planning/design projects including a major highway easement across this same PECO corridor for the 202 Parkway will be valuable for this study. Michael Baker previously acquired a County highway occupancy permit for the wastewater facility on West Point Pike. This knowledge of existing right of way will be helpful for investigating trail alternatives in that area. Michael Baker’s Fort Washington office is only eight miles from the study area. This proximity will facilitate cost-effective site views and on-site meetings. As demonstrated from our in-depth proposal that follows, the Michael Baker Team has a solid understanding of this project’s unique challenges and has formulated a streamlined approach to meet the Township’s goals. Our unique combination of trail planning experience on similar studies, road crossing and railroad crossing design experience related to trails, public outreach approach enhanced by Wikimaps, local knowledge and extensive