The Fort Ord Regional Trail & Greenway is part of a larger effort to connect communities in and around the former Fort Ord to each other and to education, employment, community and recreation centers. FORTAG is a proposed new paved regional active transportation route that will serve as a safe pedestrian and bicycle corridor connecting the cities of Seaside, Marina, Del Rey Oaks, Monterey and unincorporated community residents to California State University Monterey Bay, the Fort Ord National Monument and the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail.

FORTAG is proposed as a 24.2-mile continuous 12-ft wide paved bicycle and pedestrian trail with an open-space buffer on both sides. FORTAG will connect to 7.5 miles of existing Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail, for a total 31.7 mile long regional trail in the Monterey Peninsula that will connect with the existing and planned active transportation network, and will provide connections to unpaved trails in the Fort Ord National Monument. FORTAG is designed to accommodate people of all ages and abilities, and will have an open space buffer for the majority of the route.

In the fall of 2017, the cities of Marina, Seaside, Del Rey Oaks, and Monterey and the County of Monterey approved a memorandum of understanding to designate TAMC as the lead agency for environmental review. TAMC is leading the environmental review of FORTAG to make the project ready to compete for state, federal and private matching funds. 

The scope of work will be to perform engineering design and surveys, gather data, engage community and stakeholder groups, and conduct the analysis for project-level environmental review to meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Included as optional tasks are the the preparation an infographic report summarizing the impacts and benefits of FORTAG, visual simulations of the trail segments, grant writing and technical analysis assistance for grant applications are also included as optional tasks in this scope of work. This work will be done under the oversight of TAMC staff and in coordination with the cities of Marina, Seaside, Del Rey Oaks, and Monterey and the County of Monterey. Based on the technical expertise required for this work, consultant assistance is needed.  The scope of work and schedule is a web attachment to this report.

TAMC staff will assemble a committee to review proposals and interview the most qualified candidates. The most qualified consultant or consultant team will be invited to negotiate a final scope of work and fee schedule. Upon completion of negotiations, the consultant or consultant team will be recommended to the TAMC Board of Directors for final selection and contract approval, pending review and approval of the contract by Agency Counsel, Caltrans Audits and Investigations, and Local Assistance.

The proposed schedule for this Request for Proposals is as follows:

Factors to be considered in selecting the consultant are indicated below:

1. Staff knowledge and experience with State and Federal environmental review of similar trail and greenway projects, including demonstrated experience in developing concise and succinct technical reports (30 points)
2. Staff experience with innovative engineering design of trail and greenway projects and surveys (30 points)
3. Staff knowledge and experience with developing reports and graphics that explain technical information to a non-technical audience (10 points)
4. Proposed work plan approach (20 points)
5. Knowledge of former Fort Ord habitat and related environmental issues (10 points)