Item 12 - Select Locally Preferred Alternative for the First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study

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Select Locally Preferred Alternative for the First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study May 5, 2026 Page 8 STAFF RECOMMENDATION AND NEXT STEPS Staff recommends approval of Option 2 — Enhanced Bicycle and Pedestrian Zone Concept as the Locally Preferred Alternative. This option delivers optimal safety design features, particularly for pedestrians and bicyclists, through reduced crossing distances, separated facilities, and traffic calming measures. It maintains compatibility with existing transit operations while enhancing reliability through signal priority improvements. Importantly, it achieves these benefits without requiring right-of-way acquisition or reliance on external service changes. Compared to the other alternatives, Option 2 provides the greatest overall benefit with manageable trade-offs, including a modest increase in travel time of approximately 1.5 minutes in the westbound direction. It represents a practical, balanced solution that advances the City's Vision Zero goals, supports multimodal mobility, and reflects both community input and technical analysis. Selection of an LPA at this time will allow the City and OCTA to complete final design plans, specifications, and engineering estimates by the December 2026 grant deadline and position the project to competitively pursue construction funding. Construction funding pursued will include, but not be limited to, the Transit Rail and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) through CaISTA, the FY26 Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program from the US Department of Transportation, and Caltrans' Active Transportation Program (ATP), Local Partnership Program (LPP), and Solutions for Congested Corridors Program (SCCP). At present, construction funding has not been secured, and implementation will be contingent upon future grant awards. Construction costs are estimated to be approximately $45 million. Due to the reliance on securing grant funds and timelines related to the grant process, Staff estimates that construction would not commence until 2028, at the earliest, and in all cases would be scheduled to not commence until other major corridor projects such as Bristol Street widening and Warner Avenue widening are completed. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT There is no environmental impact associated with the action. Staff will return in the future for Council approval of environmental clearance in accordance with CEQA when project plans are completed for the selected Locally Preferred Alternative. FISCAL IMPACT Planning, environmental clearance, and final engineering for the selected LPA are fully funded through the REAP 2.0 grant, which expires in December 2026. With Council's selection of the LPA, staff will begin seeking grant opportunities to fund the construction of the LPA.