Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway Right-of-Way and Median Maintenance

Location:	North Carolina
Posted:	Nov 17, 2025
Due:	Dec 22, 2025
Agency:	City of Durham
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	S - Utilities and Training Services
Solicitation No:	26-0104
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

Bid Number:	26-0104
Bid Title:	Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway Right-of-Way and Median Maintenance
Category:	Requests for Proposals/Qualifications and Services
Status:	Open

Description:

Pre-Submittal Meeting date, time, via Zoom or in PERSON. Monday December 8, 2025, at 10:00 AM:

2011 Fay Street or Zoom -

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85965571729?pwd=YLmoYoiVSm5PmLcaDTV89ruVHndu8H.1 ****

**** RFP date, time, via EMAIL: Monday December 22, 2025, by 5:00 PM:

Alex Johnson For security reasons, you must enable JavaScript to view this E-mail address. ****

Publication Date/Time:

11/17/2025 8:00 AM

Closing Date/Time:

12/22/2025 5:00 PM

Contact Person:

Alex Johnson
[email protected]

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Request for Proposals (RFP)

Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway Right-of-Way and Median Maintenance

Date of Issue: 11/17/2025

Due Date: 12/22/2025

DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT AND NATURE OF RFP

A. PURPOSE FOR RFP

1. Through this request for proposals (RFP), notice is hereby given that the City of Durham, North

Carolina, General Services Department, is seeking services for right-of-way maintenance including

mowing, trimming, edging, blowing, and litter removal on roadsides, sidewalks and medians within

and adjacent to Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Parkway for a contract term of three (3) years.

2. This RFP provides complete information on the services being sought, the submittal requirements,

and timeline. Copies of the RFP may be downloaded directly from this site:

http://durhamnc.gov/bids.aspx.

Interested firms may submit proposals, meeting the requirements defined in the RFP to:

Alex Johnson

City of Durham, General Service Department

2011 Fay Street

Durham, NC 27704

Phone: (919) 560-4197 ext. 21275

Email: Alexander.Johnson@durhamnc.gov

3. Pre-submittal Meeting

There will be a pre-submittal meeting for interested firms on 12/8/2025, at 10:00 a.m. at 2011 Fay

Street and via zoom through the following link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85965571729?pwd=YLmoYoiVSm5PmLcaDTV89ruVHndu8H.

Attendance at the pre-submittal meeting is strongly encouraged but not required. The General

Services Department staff will present details about the project and submittal requirements and be

available to answer questions.

4. Proposals must be received by 5:00 p.m. on 12/22/2025.

To ensure receipt of any addenda to the RFP, please contact the person listed above to register as

an interested firm. The City is not responsible for providing updated information/changes to firms

not known by the City as holding a copy of this RFP.

5. Any questions regarding this RFP must be received in writing prior to 12/15/2025 by 5:00 p.m.

Questions received after this date may not receive response. Questions should be directed to Alex

Johnson. All written questions will be answered in an addendum posted on the City’s website:

http://durhamnc.gov/bids.aspx.

6. Questions received by the Department of General Services after this date will not receive a response

or be the subject of addenda. Firms who are registered as interested firms will receive the

addendum via email.

7. This RFP does not obligate the City to pay any costs incurred by respondents in the preparation and

submission of a response. Furthermore, the RFP does not obligate the City to accept or contract for

any expressed or implied services. The City of Durham reserves the right to reject any and all

submittals. A notice of award will not constitute acceptance by the City; the City’s only method of

acceptance is the City’s execution of a formal contract in accordance with law. The City of Durham is

committed to a program of equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, sex, age,

nationality or disability.

B. BACKGROUND AND SCOPE OF SERVICES:

The City of Durham is looking for contracted services for regular right-of-way and median maintenance

including, but not limited to, mowing, trimming, edging, blowing and litter and debris removal on medians

and adjacent sidewalks and lawn areas along the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway Corridor from the 15-501

interchange to Hwy 55. This includes both adjacent sides of approximately 5.3 centerline miles of roadway,

and approximately 3.1 miles of median. Also included are 2 adjacent parcels, and 2 perpendicular offshoots

(at S. Roxborro Rd. and at Cook Rd.) containing grass areas to be included. These are illustrated in Appendix

H – Map of Maintenance Areas.

1) Materials. The contractor is responsible for furnishing all necessary tools, equipment, vehicles, trailers,

chemicals, PPE, and work zone safety materials (signs, cones, barriers, etc.) to facilitate work described

in herein.

2) Methods. When the contract is executed, The Contractor will be responsible for furnishing all

licensing, equipment, materials, labor, and supervision that may be necessary to provide right-of-

way and median maintenance for three (3) consecutive years. “Maintenance” within the context of

this project will include the following elements:

Litter and Sign Removal: Litter and signs are to be removed entirely from the medians and

adjacent rights-of-way (including bags tangled in trees and shrubs) and disposed of in accordance

with the City’s ordinances (Ordinances) and at Contractor’s sole expense; no dumping on City

property is permitted. Election-related (political) signage are permitted during the period

beginning on the 30th day before the beginning date of “one-stop” early voting and ending on the

10th day after the primary or election day. After the period detailed above, all political signage must

be removed. All other (non-political/non-permitted) signs are illegal encroachments and are to be

removed when encountered, throughout the year. At no time shall bags or collected litter/debris be

allowed to remain on the right of way beyond the end of the workday.

Mowing: Mowing shall be performed in a manner consistent with landscape maintenance industry

standards that ensure smooth surface appearance without scalping or leaving any missed uncut

grass. Grass will be cut between 4 (four) and 6 (six) inches in height to maintain consistent turf

along internal streets, highways, and interchanges. Mowing shall be done carefully so as not to

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damage the bark of trees or shrubs, intrude into ground cover beds, damage grassed berms, curbs,

or other site features. Mowing shall be done at a safe speed so as not to rut turf areas. Sharp turns

should be limited to need-only situations and never at speeds that result in rutting of soil. Ruts

made by the Contractor that are deemed solely by the City to be excessive shall be repaired by the

Contractor at the Contractor’s expense. Mowing shall not be done when weather or conditions will

likely result in damaged turf, uneven cutting, or rutting grounds.

Mowing is understood to contain multiple elements, all to be completed in the same pass. The

elements of a mowed section include the following:

• Edging – All hard surfaces and bed edges directly adjacent to a mowed area (sidewalk, curb,

driveway and mulch beds) must be edged with an edger or string trimmer (“weed-eater”) for

each mowing cycle to be considered “complete”.

• Trimming – all vertical elements (poles, fences, walls, guardrails, signposts) must be trimmed

with a string trimmer (“weed-eater”) for each mowing cycle to be considered “complete”.

• Blowing – grass clippings, leaves and other debris generated by mowing, trimming and edging

must be blown off of hardscape elements (roadways and sidewalks) and onto lawn areas with a

blower for each mowing cycle to be considered “complete”.

• “chemical edging”, i.e. the use of non-specific herbicides along fencelines, poles, guardrails or

other hardscape elements can be substituted for edging or trimming if discussed and agreed

upon by the project manager or designee.

Timing. It is anticipated that the Contractor will begin work on the project on dates corresponding to the

maintenance schedule, closest to the date of the notice to proceed, and continue following the schedule until

the end of the contract period. This corresponds to mowing and litter removal every 2 weeks during the 6

month growing season and then monthly through the winter months

Maintenance Cycles

Cycle

Date

3rd week of February

3rd week of March

1st week of April

3rd week of April

1st week of May

3rd week of May

1st week of June

3rd week of June

1st week of July

3rd week of July

1st week of August

3rd week of August

1st week of September

Type of Input

Litter Only

Litter and Mowing

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3rd week of September

2nd week of October

2nd week of November

2nd week of December

2nd week of January

Litter and Mowing

Litter Only

1. Communication. The Contractor will be expected to coordinate a target schedule of activities with the

Project Manager or the Project Manager’s designee a minimum of three days prior to beginning

scheduled work (schedules will vary due to weather conditions). Prior to 7:00 a.m. each Monday, the

Contractor will be expected to text, email, or hand deliver to the Project Manager or the Project

Manager’s designee a schedule of locations to be worked on during that week.

2. Documentation. Documentation of work completed will be consistent with the locations as described in

the RFP. At a minimum, an accounting of the number of miles treated and date of completion should

accompany any invoice.

3. Payment. When the selected vendor submits invoices to the City, the invoice shall contain a schedule of

values that correspond to the locations maintained and allow for inspection/verification before payment

is processed. The selected vendor may invoice for each maintenance interval detailed in the proposal.

4. Liability.

C. Equal Business Opportunity Program: It is the policy of the City to provide equal opportunities for City

contracting for underutilized firms owned by minorities and women doing business in the City’s Contracting

Marketplace. It is further the policy of the City to prohibit discrimination against any firm in pursuit of these

opportunities, to conduct its contracting activities so as to prevent such discrimination, to correct present

effects of past discrimination and to resolve complaints of discrimination. This policy applies to all City

contracting, including procurement services.

In accordance with the Ordinance, all contractors are required to provide information requested in the

“Equal Business Opportunity Program Procurement Forms” package included with this Request for Bids.

Bids that do not contain the appropriate, completed forms will be deemed non-responsive and ineligible for

consideration.

For procurement services with UBE goals, the “UBE Participation” and “Statement of Intent to Perform as

Subcontractor” are required of all bidders. “Request to Change UBE Participation After Bid Opening” and the

“Questionnaire on Bidder’s Good Faith Efforts” documents are not required at this time.

The MUBE goal is 0% and the WUBE goal is 0% on this bid.

The Department of Finance is responsible for the Equal Business Opportunity Program. All questions about

“Equal Business Opportunity Program Procurement Forms” should be referred to department staff at (919)

560-4180.

D. DEFINITIONS IN THIS RFP: CITY, RFP, PROPOSAL, CANDIDATE, CONTRACTOR, SHOULD: Unless the context

indicates otherwise – (a) The expressions “RFP,” “this RFP,” and “the RFP” refer to this document as it may

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be amended or updated. (b) “City” and “city” mean the City of Durham. (c) The “proposal” or "Bid" is the

response of a person, firm, or corporation proposing to provide the services sought by this RFP. (d) The

word “Candidate” or “candidate” is the person, firm, or corporation that submits a proposal or that is

considering submitting a proposal. (e) The word “Contractor” or “contractor” is the person, firm, or

corporation with which the City enters into a contract to provide the services sought by this RFP. That is,

“contractor” generally refers to a successful candidate that has obtained a fully executed contract with the

City, while “candidate” is generally reserved to the stage before a contract has been signed. (f) The word

“should” is used to tell candidates what the City thinks it wants and/or what the project manager thinks is

best. Candidates that want to increase the likelihood of being selected will, in general, do what the RFP

says candidates “should” do, but failure to comply with all “should” will not necessarily and automatically

result in rejection.

E. CONTRACT: The City anticipates that the conclusion of the RFP process will be a contract between the City

and the successful candidate under which the successful candidate will provide the goods and services

generally described in this RFP. It is the City’s intention to use the contract that is attached as Appendix D,

modified and filled in to reflect the RFP and the proposal. If a candidate objects to any of the contracts, it

should state the objections in its proposal.

F. RESERVED.

G. BONDS: Not Used

H. INSURANCE: The contractor agrees to maintain, on a primary basis and at its sole expense, at all times

during the life of this Contract the following applicable coverages and limits.  The requirements contained

herein, as well as the City’s review or acceptance of insurance maintained by Contractor, is not intended to

and shall not in any manner limit or qualify the liabilities or obligations assumed by Contractor under this

Contract. See Appendix A for Insurance Requirements.

I. DISCRETION OF THE CITY:

A. The City of Durham reserves the right to (i) reject any, any part of, or all proposals, or (ii) accept that

proposal which the City deems to be in its best interest, whether or not it is the lowest dollar proposal.

B. NOTWITHSTANDING anything to the contrary in this document or in any addendums to this document,

unless the contrary provision refers specifically to this provision, the City reserves the right (i) to negotiate

changes of any nature with any candidate with respect to any term, condition, or provision in this

document and/or in any proposals, whether or not something is stated to be mandatory and whether or

not it is said that a proposal will be rejected if certain information or documentation is not submitted with

it, and (ii) to enter into an agreement for some or all of the work with one or more persons, firms, or

corporations that do not submit proposals. For example, all deadlines are for the administrative

convenience or needs of the City and may be waived by the City in its discretion. This subparagraph B

applies to the entire RFP, including the UBE portions.

C. Where the City asks or tells candidates to do stated things, such as that a proposal should follow a stated

format or that the candidate should do stated things in seeking the contract, the City may reject a proposal

because it does not comply with those requests, so the candidate is adding to its risk of rejection by non-

compliance. Still, the City may, in its discretion, waive non-compliance. This subsection (C) does not limit

subsections (A) and (B).

D. Of course, once a contract is signed, the parties to the contract may enforce the contract according to its

terms as allowed by applicable law.

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This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.

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Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway Right-of-Way and Median Maintenance

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