REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

Professional Engineering Services Safe Streets For All (SS4A) – Safety Action Plan

The City of Valdosta is requesting Statements of Qualification (SOQ) from firms, partnerships, joint ventures or teams experienced in multimodal transportation planning and engineering to support the City in developing a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Safety Action Plan focused on reducing and eliminating severe injury and fatality crashes on all roadways within the City. This project is funded by the Federal Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan Grant with matching dollars coming from the City of Valdosta Local Funds. Therefore, all activities must be performed in strict adherence to applicable federal regulations.

Interested firms shall submit SOQs outlining the firm’s experience and capabilities, list of key personnel, and current hourly rate schedule. The format of the submittals should be one bound hard-copy printed SOQ and a PDF format SOQ on a USB drive.

The SOQ packages are due by close of business, 5:00 PM on May 1, 2026, in the City Engineering office, 300 N. Lee Street, Valdosta, GA. Submittals can be delivered to:

City of Valdosta Ben O’Dowd, P.E., City Engineer

Engineering Department 300 North Lee Street

Valdosta Georgia 31602

SOQs mailed to or received at any location other than the above address will not be accepted.

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

City Hall Annex • Post Office Box 1125 • 300 N. Lee Street • Valdosta, GA 31603-1125 Telephone (229) 259-3530 • Fax (229) 333-1884

An Equal Opportunity Employer

Request for Qualifications for Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Action Plan

Introduction This project is funded by the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Action Plan Grant with matching dollars from the City of Valdosta, Georgia. Firms or teams will be required to comply with all applicable regulations of the City of Valdosta and the State of Georgia. All activities must be performed in strict adherence to applicable federal regulations, and the developed plan must meet the requirements in the FY2023 SS4A Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

General The City of Valdosta, Georgia, is seeking the services of a firm, partnership, joint venture or team experienced in multimodal transportation planning and engineering to support the City in developing a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Safety Action Plan focused on reducing and eliminating severe injury and fatality crashes on all roadways within the City. This project is funded by the Federal Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan Grant with matching dollars coming from the City of Valdosta Local Funds. Therefore, all activities must be performed in strict adherence to applicable federal regulations.

Services shall include data collection, existing conditions analysis, public and stakeholder engagement, equity analysis, assessment of current policies and plans, identification of projects and strategies, and implementing a system for measuring progress, as described further in the Scope of Services. The developed plan must meet the requirements in the FY2023 SS4A Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

Qualified firms must demonstrate competence and expertise in graphic and oral communications to diverse groups and expertise in facilitating consensus from multiple public and private interests related to the project.

Background In 2024, the City of Valdosta was awarded a grant from the USDOT to develop a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Safety Action Plan. The purpose of the SS4A program is to improve roadway safety by significantly reducing or eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries through safety action plan development and implementation focused on all users, including pedestrians, Engineering Department

City Hall Annex • Post Office Box 1125 • 300 N. Lee Street • Valdosta, GA 31603-1125 Telephone (229) 259-3530 • Fax (229) 333-1884

An Equal Opportunity Employer bicyclists, public transportation users, motorists, personal conveyance and micro-mobility users, and commercial vehicle operators. The City of Valdosta will develop a Safety Action Plan focused on promoting a culture of safety through collaboration among all safety stakeholders with the goal of minimizing or eliminating roadway fatalities and serious injuries by a certain percentage and date determined by the plan. A selected consultant will plan meetings and combine public input, data analysis, and statistics into a plan.

Furthermore, a successful Safety Action Plan will demonstrate engagement with a variety of public and private stakeholders and seek to adopt innovative technologies and strategies to:

• Promote safety.

• Employ low-cost, high-impact strategies that can improve safety over a wider geographic area.

• Ensure equitable investment in the safety needs of underserved communities.

• Incorporate evidence-based projects and strategies.

• Align with the Federal priorities such as equity, climate and sustainability, quality job creation, and economic strength and global competitiveness.

The SS4A program aligns with the USDOT National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), which includes the Safe System Approach as a guiding principle to advance roadway safety.

The anticipated project budget available for consultant services is $300,000. The Grant documents are attached and incorporated into this RFQ. The level of service should be tailored to achieve Grant requirements within the allocated budget.

Qualifications Evaluation and Selection Criteria

• Experience with similar projects of the Prime Consultant, the Project Manager, and the Key Team Leaders

• Technical Approach consisting of the Project Team’s project understanding, innovative concepts or alternatives, and quality control procedures

• Past Performance: please provide references for prior similar projects

• Resource Availability / Workload Capacity

City Hall Annex • Post Office Box 1125 • 300 N. Lee Street • Valdosta, GA 31603-1125 Telephone (229) 259-3530 • Fax (229) 333-1884

An Equal Opportunity Employer

Objectives A baseline shall be developed from studies of the frequency of crashes, severity of injuries, areas, times, driver ages, law violations, weather conditions, lighting, traffic volume and prevailing types of crashes. A consideration of systemic and specific safety needs shall also be performed to employ low cost, high impact strategies that can improve safety.

Upon selection of a planning and engineering firm, partnership, joint venture or team, the Valdosta City Council will adopt a Resolution of Support for the Grant Application which affirms the City’s commitment to inclusive Community Engagement including a variety of public and private stakeholders. This Community Engagement effort will result in a Community Action Plan that will adopt innovative technologies or strategies to promote safety and equity; and will incorporate evidence-based projects or strategies.

Community engagement methods will include gathering of information from holding English and Spanish public meetings at multiple City of Valdosta community centers especially within disadvantaged communities with a virtual attendance option. The consultant will present to clubs and area groups, post a survey and video on all participating government websites, coordinate with the City of Valdosta Public Information Office, will post notifications of the survey in the local newspaper, will provide hard copies of surveys to several key locations around the City, and will assist with posting the latest updates on social media platforms.

The selected consultant will review and assess road development policies and guidelines, City strategies, comprehensive plans, economic development plans and other transportation manuals to identify standards and guidelines to prioritize transportation safety. Using local data, best evidence and practices, stakeholder input, and countermeasures that address prevailing crash types, strategies and projects will be developed with a timeline. Prioritization will be given to potential of reducing crash rates and eliminating safety concerns.

Scope Of Services The professional services sought in this request include the development of a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Safety Action Plan focused on reducing and eliminating severe injury and fatality crashes on all roadways within the City.

The plan will cover both state routes and local streets within the city limits.

City Hall Annex • Post Office Box 1125 • 300 N. Lee Street • Valdosta, GA 31603-1125 Telephone (229) 259-3530 • Fax (229) 333-1884

An Equal Opportunity Employer

The City will provide the following data to support the plan development:

• Existing GIS right-of-way centerlines

• 2019 pavement assessment (2026 pavement assessment is ongoing, and will be provided if and when available)

The consultant shall perform the following tasks:

a. Analyze existing conditions and historical trends to baseline the level of crashes involving fatalities and serious injuries across the City of Valdosta.

b. Analyze the location where there are crashes, the severity, and contributing factors and crash types.

c. Analyze the systemic and specific safety needs as needed, such as high-risk road features, specific safety needs relevant to road users, etc.

d. Create a geospatial identification of higher risk locations.

e. Engage with the public and all relevant stakeholders, including community groups and the private sector with a public participation strategy that will:

1) Provide an avenue for the public to learn about the developing plans on a central website.

2) Provide both in-person and online public comment opportunities regarding project objectives, project selection, etc;

3) Continue soliciting community input on transportation desires and concerns throughout the agreed upon public involvement period.

4) Specifically reach out to low income, minority, and non-English speaking communities.

5) Gauge community reaction to potential new transportation and safety solutions for the area.

f. Incorporate feedback received through public engagement into the safety action plan.

g. Facilitate inter- and intra-governmental cooperation and collaboration amongst the City of Valdosta, City of Remerton, GDOT, FHWA, VSU, Lowndes County Board of Commissioners, etc.

h. Create an equitable and inclusive representative process, including in project identification and access.

i. Identify underserved communities through data.

j. Develop a plan that includes consideration for current policies, plans, guidelines, and standards, including consideration of how to improve safety.

City Hall Annex • Post Office Box 1125 • 300 N. Lee Street • Valdosta, GA 31603-1125 Telephone (229) 259-3530 • Fax (229) 333-1884

An Equal Opportunity Employer

k. Develop a plan that discusses implementation through the adoption of revised or completely new policies, standards, and guidelines.

l. Develop a comprehensive set of projects and strategies to address safety based on data, best practices, stakeholder input, and equity considerations. Interventions may address infrastructure, behavioral, and/or operational safety and may be organized around focus and/or emphasis areas identified in the plan. The projects should include low-cost incremental measures that can be deployed quickly that can be developed into larger projects. The plan should address both infrastructure and non-infrastructure (e.g., behavioral, programmatic, etc.) strategies.

m. Create a project prioritization strategy.

n. Discuss within the plan how progress will be measured over time, including utilizing outcome data.

o. Aid with City Council presentations and agenda items.

p. Create a project webpage for staff and public to monitor progress and provide input as needed.

Deliverables

• The City of Valdosta, Georgia Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan document .

• Safety Action Plan Executive Summary Provided in a PowerPoint format.

• GIS project shapefiles for all identified projects and crash data.

END