The City of Morgan Hill is beginning to prepare its first-ever Transportation Master Plan, which will consider not just traffic projections but all of the city’s transportation needs as the community grows.
The city council at the June 7 meeting unanimously approved a consultant agreement with Hexagon Transportation to develop the master plan. The cost of the agreement is $893,960.
Morgan Hill Public Works Director Chris Ghione told the council that a transportation master plan is much more in-depth and detailed than a typical traffic study or circulation element of the general plan.
Ghione said the master plan will “provide a really comprehensive view of transportation for the city.” It will include an upcoming citywide roadway speed survey, and “is going to be looking at developing policies that the council sets to achieve our transportation goals.”
It will also include “analysis of existing (road and transportation infrastructure) conditions and analysis of what’s going to happen in the future, and hopefully develop a capital improvement program to meet our goals that are established by our council,” Ghione added.
Other components to be studied and analyzed in the master plan include future traffic modeling, review of bicycle and pedestrian facilities and transportation priorities for Morgan Hill, according to a city staff report.
Crafting the master plan will take several months, and will require “significant community outreach” in the form of a series of upcoming public meetings, city staff added. A stakeholders’ group will be formed to help guide the process.
During the June 7 discussion, council members were discouraged that the proposal from Hexagon was the only bid received in response to the city’s request.
Before the bidding process, Ghione said that city staff reached out to numerous traffic and transportation consultants in the region to make sure they were aware of the city’s request, but none submitted except for Hexagon.
Ghione noted that the extensive and specialized scope of work requested for the transportation master plan likely made a proposal prohibitive for many other consultants in the region.
