SCOPE OF WORK

Project Name:

WO 25-19: Transportation Master Plan

Background and Project Description:

The City of Billings is a dynamic, growing community with a metropolitan area that has grown to more than 125,000 residents and serves one of America's largest trade areas covering much of Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota. The City has a comprehensive transportation network with over 500 miles of City owned transportation surfaces including streets, alleys, sidewalks, and multi-use trails. This transportation network is currently categorized using a traditional function classification, including arterial, collector, and local roads. Functional classification is an important tool in identifying a road corridor's function within a larger network and has long been the framework for the transportation network within the City. There is a desire, however, to incorporate similar priority corridors and/or districts for other modes such as walking, biking, freight, transit, and emergency service routes while recognizing that not every street can or should prioritize every mode.

The City of Billings is seeking to create a comprehensive Transportation Master Plan, a working plan that will identify community-guided priorities, long-term vision for the transportation network, and updated design guidance for new and existing road corridors. The Plan will consider the needs of various modes while also exploring the context of a roadway as it relates to neighborhood character and current and future land uses. The project does not seek to nullify existing plans and policies, such as Complete Streets and the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), but rather provides guidance with the goal of creating a safer and more strategic transportation network. The Plan will be reflective of the community's needs, meaning community involvement will be comprehensive and critical for the success of the Plan. Traffic theories will be thoughtfully applied throughout the process to ensure community goals align with those of the City.

The City intends to address the following items through development of the Plan:

1. What are the community's priorities and goals for our transportation system? The focus will be on community engagement, advisory committee engagement, listening and guiding conversations to understand the community's needs, and memorializing public feedback. (Priority)
2. How are various modes traveling today, and how/where should various modes be prioritized in the future? This will include incorporation of existing plans, new ideas, and public feedback.
3. Do additional typologies need to be developed to accommodate neighborhood character, land uses, and modal corridors? What roadway interventions are appropriate for various street classifications (bicycle facilities, traffic calming, pedestrian crossings, etc.)? Are additional overlay districts recommended? Best practices that have been developed through MDT, FHWA, MUTCD, NACTO, and others may be integrated.
4. How do we ensure consistency between land use, transportation planning, and implementation?
5. What planned or new projects should be prioritized to achieve the goals of the Plan? Projects previously identified through the LRTP, Safe Routes to School, Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan, Capital Improvement Plan, and other plans may be evaluated for consistency with the Transportation Master Plan. New projects may also be considered.

The Transportation Master Plan does not seek to recreate work previously completed through the LRTP and other Master Plans, but it will provide guidance for future plan updates. This Plan does not change the functional classification map, but it could change design guidance for existing street classifications. This Plan will not combine all projects from previous plans, but it could change project priorities based on the goals identified by the community. This Plan will not change the subdivision regulations or zoning code, but it may influence future updates to existing regulations, code, and ordinances.

This project will be led by the City of Billings Public Works Department and City-County Planning Department and will involve significant City staff time. The City is seeking proposals from qualified consultants to assist City staff with specific components of the plan. The initial focus for the project will be on Item 1 listed above. Based on the feedback received from the community, the remaining items 2 through 5 could be revised, expanded upon, or removed from the plan entirely. It is anticipated that the scope of work and resulting contract will be phased, with the initial focus on Item 1 listed above. Additional scope may be completed through a separate contract or added by a contract amendment to complete plan components 2 through 5. It is anticipated that plan components will also be completed by City staff, and some components may be completed by other consultants.

Project Components:

Tasks will be determined in the final scope of work with the chosen Consultant. Tasks in bold will be prioritized with the initial scope of work. Major components of this project may include, but are not necessarily limited to:

• Project management, involvement with various committees, and technical presentations to other groups (City Council, Public Meetings, etc.)
• Review and summarize existing plans and policies. Relevant plans and policies include, but are not limited to: Complete Streets, Vision Zero, Long Range Transportation Plan, Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan, Safe Routes to School Phase I and II, neighborhood plans, Subdivision Regulations, Zoning Code, various corridor studies, and various feasibility studies.
• Assistance in public outreach, which may include providing strategies for outreach, development of a public outreach & engagement plan, development and management of a project website, development and delivery of surveys, and other items that may be determined.
• Assistance in public engagement, which may include providing strategies for engaging a wide range of citizens, assistance in developing engagement material and events, assistance in facilitating discussions, memorializing public feedback, and using engineering judgement to provide recommendations based on public feedback.
• Review of current modal corridors, and assistance in development of new context-appropriate modal corridors. This may include development of policies and strategies.
• Traffic modeling, which may include modeling using the City's Travel Demand Model as well as creating focused subarea models.
• Assisting in technical review of street classifications, which may include development of new distinct street typologies and appropriate roadway interventions by classification (bicycle facilities, traffic calming, pedestrian crossings, etc.)
• Review of land uses and zoning code, and assistance in establishing land-use based street types or classifications.
• Review of existing overlay districts and recommendations for new overlay districts for urban centers, retail centers, etc.
• Recommendations for project implementation and funding strategies.
• Development of GIS-based mapping relevant to modal corridors or street classifications
• Creation of exhibits, maps, renderings, or other visual plan components.
• Preparation of technical memorandums or written portions of the plan.