STATE OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LETTER OF RESPONSE 375-030-22 Page 1 Advertisement No.: 16444 DOT FM Number: 43165713201 Project Name: SR-811 DIXIE HWY./NE 4 th AVE. FROM SR-838/SUNRISE BLVD. TO NE 20 th STREET Consultant s Name: HSQ GROUP INC. Street Address: 1489 W. Palmetto Park Road, Suite 340 City: Boca Raton State: FL Zip: 33486 Office Location: Boca Raton Contact person: Nour Shehadeh, PE Phone: 561-392-0221 Contact email: nour@hsqgroup.net By submittal of this letter the Consultant certifies that all information provided in the letter is true and accurate. The Consultant further affirms that staff proposed are currently employed by the firm(s) identified, or the Consultant has provided a statement of when staff will become employed by the identified firm(s). Please provide the following information: Proposed approach and understanding of critical issues. Relevant project experience Similar type of work experience. Other content provided by firm. Proposed key personnel and their proposed roles (do not include resumes). Consultants: Please be aware that all font (including in graphics, tables, and captions on photos) must be standard Arial Narrow, 11 point, single line spacing with no modification of font or spacing allowed. ½ clear margin on all sides must be maintained on all pages. It is the Consultant s responsibility, due to font and format restrictions within this form, to work within the constraints of the form and its format. Character styling such as use of color, bold, and italics is allowed. Use of a table is recommended for text boxes. The page layout may be modified to add columns, tables, graphics, and photos. All graphics and photos must be created in a clean, blank word document and the text wrapping square option applied before cutting and pasting into this form. Consultants may add their logo at the top of the first page (directly underneath the header), however, the Consultant shall not extend the form beyond the pages allocated for the Letter to accommodate insertion of the logo. Consultants are not permitted to insert any other information in the header other than the logo. After pasting your letter into this form, highlight all text and ensure the font size of Arial Narrow, 11 point was retained. Once your content is inserted, delete any additional blank pages that are generated by pressing your delete key after the last word in the Letter of Response. Recreation of the form in another software application to modify the form format is not permitted. This form works best when saved with a.docx extension. *Please retain the source document as it may be requested at a later date in the procurement, to verify adherence with aforementioned restrictions. Note: You may begin typing on this page. Dear Ms. Jessica Rubio: HSQ Group Inc. along with its subconsultants is pleased to submit this letter of response: DIXIE HWY TEAM CONTRACT 16444 HSQ GROUP INC. 3.1, 3.2, 7.1 DBE Progressive Design & Engineering, Inc. 6.1, 6.2, 7.2, 7.3 DBE Alan Gerwig & Associates, Inc. 4.1.1 SBE I.F. Rooks & Associates, Inc. 8.3 SBE ACAI 15 DBE RADISE International, LC. 9.1 DBE Keith & Associates, Inc. 8.1, 8.2, 8.4 DBE Project Understanding and Key Issues: The MAIN objective of this project is to provide bike lanes on both sides of the road. Crosswalks/sidewalks will be upgraded to meet current standards. Signalization and street lighting will also be part of the scope. Other scope items will be as listed under the Project Suite for this road. This road is located in the City of Ft. Lauderdale and the City of Wilton Manor.
Page 2 Project MAJOR Issue: The major issue for this project is the coordination and approval of the typical section. There are many factors to consider when choosing a typical section, the most important factors are: 1- The coordination with MPO, City of Ft. Lauderdale, City of Wilton Manor, the FDOT and the public at large for the acceptance of the typical section. 2- Impact on existing oak trees that the City of Ft. Lauderdale made very clear that they must be maintained as per Ms. Dian Alarcon, the Transportation Mobility Director. 3- Balance between the width of the bike lane and the impact on the traffic. 4- Economical impact on businesses especially in the segment within Wilton Manor due to possible impact on the existing on street parking. With all those factors in mind we evaluated three typical sections. Each section has pros and cons that can be explored further. Option 1: calls for removing the median, restripe the thru lanes to 10.75 wide, and provide 7 buffered bike lanes, keep existing trees and existing outside C&G. At intersections, the 7 buffered bike lane will be dropped, the outside lane will become a sharrow lane so that we can provide for LT turn lanes. Option 2: Widen to the outside by 1, keep the median, and restripe the thru lanes to 10 wide. This option will keep the existing trees and will provide a typical 4 bike lane. We understand that this option may not be desirable, however, the widening is minor. Option 3: is depicted on the provided typical section above. Traffic analyses must be conducted to support the removal of one lane in this option. This option will keep the existing trees, provide wider sidewalks, and provide the 7 buffered bike lane. Project approach: The approach to this project is extremely important and it begins with the understanding of the issues that will be dealt with during design which include the oak trees, reduction of the number of thru lanes and possible impact to on street parking etc. Also the design of this project must be in harmony with the proposed design south of Sunrise Blvd. and north of the 5 point intersection. Due to the fact that this is an MPO project that is within the jurisdiction of the City of Ft. Lauderdale, the City of Wilton Manor and the FDOT, it will require careful coordination so everyone will buy onto the proposed typical section. Our initial approach will be to document the field conditions by detailed field reviews to better understand the impact the typical section will have, which includes: 1- Develop alternative typical section options and establish an evaluation matrix with pros and cons of each and assign scores accordingly to come up with the best option. 2-Coordinate a meeting with the major stakeholders (MPO, City of Ft. Lauderdale, City of Wilton Manor, and FDOT) to discuss and agree on the best option before conducting the public meeting. 3-Document the meetings with the major stakeholders and issue meeting minutes of items discussed and agreed on so it will become binding once the design starts to insure no one can change their mind to avoid impact of the scope, budget and schedule. 4-Conduct a public meeting to insure the acceptance of the project by the public. Once the typical section is approved, the production of the needed plans and documents will follow the normal FDOT procedures. HSQ is proactive and we will bring lessons learned from previous projects to Dixie Hwy. as part of our management approach to insure high quality delivery. For example, reviewing the survey we receive from surveyors MUST be checked in the field to make sure that it reflects field conditions. In SR 933-D6, the survey we received from D6 was missing some invert elevations at inlets. We did not check every individual pipe invert to make sure nothing is missing because the project was a safety project and drainage became an important issue during the development of the project. To avoid impacting the schedule, when we needed the inverts, we sent out the HSQ survey crew to obtain the inverts, even though the survey was the responsibility of D6. HSQ is always proactive in managing its projects. We prepared the Specification Package for SR 430-D5 and directly coordinated with Tallahassee s main office for review and feedback. We worked all the issues out before we submitted to D5 and took care of minor comments immediately, subsequently, we received an email from the PM thanking us. Project Team: Our team consists of experienced individuals who have successfully provided services on previous FDOT projects and understand the needs of D4. Project Manager: Nour Shehadeh, P.E. will be the PM and FDOT s primary point of contact, responsible for the overall design/production of the contract. He has over 24 years of experience in roadway design, permitting and
Page 3 construction management. Nour has a variety of experience in other areas of design including drainage design, signal design, signing and pavement marking, utility design, coordination and public involvement. Nour served as the PM on SR 430 in D5, PM on SR 933 in D6, and PM sub for SR A1A in D4, which makes him uniquely qualified to manage this project. Key Staff: Shahin Shafiq, P.E with 12 years of experience will lead the roadway design and will be responsible for day-to-day design and production of contract documents. Shahin is highly experienced in roadway design components such as drainage design, permitting, pavement design, signal design and utility coordination. He was the lead design engineer for SR 430, SR 933 and SR A1A as a sub. Navon Wallace, P.E with 8 years of experience will be responsible for the plans production, quantities, LRE and Transport updates. Antonio Quevedo, P.E. who has over 14 years of experience will be responsible for the QC and will not be involved in production activities. He successfully managed the QC for SR 430, SR 933 and SR A1A as a sub. We received our final scores of 3.8 on SR 430, and 3.5 for SR A1A. Jay Huebner, P.E., A.I.C.P has over 16 years of experience in handling public meetings representing both the public and private sectors. Jay has done several public meetings for the City of Ft. Lauderdale and successfully conducted the public meeting for SR 430 which is similar in scope to Dixie Hwy. Subconsultants: Keith& Associates will be responsible for survey and SUE services on this project, they have done several FDOT D4 projects similar to Dixie Hwy. such as SE 3 RD Avenue. The survey effort and SUE will be managed by Lee Powers PMS and Daniel Checchia they have 10 and 18 years of experience respectively. PD&E, Inc. will be responsible for signal and street lighting designs. PD&E has been providing services to D4 for over 10 years with projects similar to Dixie Hwy. such as the District Wide Traffic Operations studies. Rudy Hoyos, P.E. with 26 years of experience and Gary Robeson, P.E with 28 years of experience will be responsible for the street lighting and signal designs respectively. Other subconsultants and their responsibilities are listed in the table on page 1 of this LOI. Public Involvement (CAP): We already identified the major stakeholders along this cooridor which include, Agape Church of God, North Side Elementary School, Ft. Lauderdale High School, Children Village, businesses in additon to MPO, City of Ft. Lauderdale and the City of Wilton Manor and FDOT. We will work closely with the District s PIO to effectively communicate the project s objectives via public workshops. We have sucsessfully conducted the CAP for SR 430-D5 by providing needed documents such as project flyers, letters to elected officials, public officials, as well as the affected owners and businesses. HSQ prepared the advertisment for the local newspapers, the powerpoint presentation and conducted the public meeting. We collected all concerns in writing and immeditely acted on the request of the community, especially the Blind Community, by revising the plans to include an APS system at intersections. Pedestrian consideration: Tow midblock crossings will be added in the project. An evaluation/study of the location of the crossings will be prepared for justification. Our subconsultant PD&E will handle this task. If the typical section is to keep 4-lanes then a signalized/mast arm will be considered for the safety of pedestrians. However, if the typical section is to have 2-lanes, then Rapid Flashing Beacon with in ground RPM will be considered to make the crossing clearley visabile. PD&E holds the patten for in ground RMP, they have installed many of these for different FDOT districts. Traffic Control Plan: We will minimize disruption to traffic and provide a safe working environment. Maintenance of Traffic will be prepared in accordance with PPM Volume 1, Chapter 10 and Design Standard No. 600. Widening will be performed using Standards 612 and 613, as well as 615 and 616 at intersections, maintaining traffic on at least one lane in each direction. Lane closures will be limited to non-peak hours as determined by the lane closure analysis and will not be allowed during reduced-speed zone hours in the vicinity of North Side Elementary School and Ft. Lauderdale High School. Pedestrian traffic will be maintained according to Standard 660. For signing and pavement marking, traffic will be maintained using Standards 611 through 616, and 619 for moving operations. Utility Coordination:The primary objective of the utility coordination process is to resolve all known utility conflicts, resulting in the economical and timely completion of transportation projects. We successfully conducted the utility coordination for SR A1A-D4 and SR 430-D5. We are aware of all the UAOs within the project limits. Pavement Design/Signing and Pavement Marking: Pavement design is anticipated for this project and will be per the Pavement Design Manual. Signing and pavement marking plans will be prepared to incorporate the proposed modifications. Drainage design and permitting: Minor drainage work may be required depending of the typical section. We have done the drainage modification and permitting on SR A1A for the Sunrise segment up to the Intercostal which was part of SR A1A project. Due to the nature of the roadway work for Dixie Hwy., No permit is required from SFWMD according to Mr. Carlos de Rojas, this project is covered under exemptions in Section 62-330.051 (10) the construction of pedestrian paths for pedestrians and bicycles. Project Management: Budget Control: HSQ will make sure that all team members understand the project scope as intended and design accordingly to avoid any redo and thereby eliminating design cost overrun. HSQ will also adhere to the scope and avoid adding any design elements that will increase construction costs. Schedule Control: The schedule will be monitored closely, so that any potential delay can be addressed immediately. Our Team will dedicate all resources needed to maintain the schedule from any delays. The HSQ Team will be kept informed of all critical dates and deadlines well in advance of any submittal to ensure delivery on time. I encourage you to contact the following references: Mr. Anson Sonnett, P.E. D4 (954) 777-4474. Mr. Jerald Marks D5 (386) 943-5161, Mr. Danny Iglesias, P.E. D6 (305) 470-5289. Our team is highly experienced with projects of this nature. Nour Shehadeh, P.E.
Page 4 Prequalification of Prime Consultant and any proposed Subconsultants by advertised type(s) of work: Project Advertised Major & Minor Work Types Consultant Name 3.1 3.2 4.1.1 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 7.3 8.1 8.2 DBE SB UU Prime HSQ GROUP INC. ALAN GERWIG & ASSOCIATES, INC. PROGRESSIVE DESIGN & ENGINEERING, INC. KEITH & ASSOCIATES, INC. Subconsultants SB = Small Business UU = Under-utilized work type; subconsultant is fulfilling an under-utilized work type My firm has submitted a Bid Opportunity List through the Equal Opportunity Compliance System for this project.
Page 5 Prequalification of Prime Consultant and any proposed Subconsultants by advertised type(s) of work: Project Advertised Major & Minor Work Types Consultant Name 8.3 8.4 9.1 15.0 DBE SB UU Prime I.F. ROOKS & ASSOCIATES INC. KEITH & ASSOCIATES, INC. RADISE INTERNATIONAL, LC ACAI Subconsultants SB = Small Business UU = Under-utilized work type; subconsultant is fulfilling an under-utilized work type My firm has submitted a Bid Opportunity List through the Equal Opportunity Compliance System for this project.
Page 6 Prequalification of Prime Consultant and any proposed Subconsultants by advertised type(s) of work: Project Advertised Major & Minor Work Types Consultant Name Prime DBE SB UU Subconsultants SB = Small Business UU = Under-utilized work type; subconsultant is fulfilling an under-utilized work type My firm has submitted a Bid Opportunity List through the Equal Opportunity Compliance System for this project.