Item 15 - Cooperative Agreement Regarding First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study

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First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study February 18, 2025 Page 2 4 8 3 1 commitments through strengthened partnerships between the state, its regions, and local entities. REAP 2.0 seeks to accelerate infill housing developments, reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled, increase housing supply at all affordability levels, affirmatively further fair housing, and facilitate the implementation of adopted regional and local plans to achieve these goals. On July 6, 2023, SCAG awarded OCTA $11 million in state funding REAP 2.0 grant funds for 11 OCTA planning, outreach, transit, active transportation, and transit signal priority projects, which included funding for the First Street Boulevard Multimodal Study. The First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study will look at options to enhance transportation along First Street by assessing the feasibility of various infrastructure improvements through robust community outreach efforts, field data analyses, and computer modeling. The General Plan, Mobility Element classifies this segment of First Street as a Primary Arterial with a Class IV Cycle Track. A Primary Arterial is characterized as a street with four travel lanes and a center median. A Class IV Cycle Track is a bicycle lane separated and protected from vehicle travel lanes by barriers such as concrete medians. The study evaluates pedestrian, bicycle, and transit improvements that promote safety and transportation goals consistent with the City’s General Plan. These potential improvements will benefit the Santa Ana residents who utilize OCTA’s Route 64, one of the highest ridership bus routes in Orange County. Route 64 services Orange County bus riders from the Westminster Mall to the Larwin Square Shopping Mall in Tustin while traversing right through the heart of the City of Santa Ana on First Street. The deliverables and projected schedule under this planning grant are as follows: •Award Consultant Contract (April 2025) •Analyses and Assessment (April – December 2025) •Outreach and Engagement (June – October 2025) •Conceptual Planning (April – December 2025) •Engineered Plan Production (January – June 2026) Under the proposed cooperative agreement (Exhibit 1), the City agrees to complete the study per the scope and guidelines approved by SCAG (Exhibit 2). The study will include City in-house engineering project management and procurement of consultants with up to $430,000 set aside to reimburse the City for staff time spent on the study. Funds will be issued to the City on a reimbursement basis. An amendment to the FY 24/25 Capital Improvements Program (Exhibit 3) is necessary to properly document the additional project and funding in the current fiscal year. Staff will return to Council for approval of the recommended improvements prior to advancing to the final engineering plan production phase (December 2025). The study must be completed by June 30, 2026. There is no requirement to construct the