Agenda Report
Fullerton City Council
MEETING DATE: NOVEMBER 4, 2025
TO: CITY COUNCIL / SUCCESSOR AGENCY
SUBMITTED BY: stephen BISE, P.E., PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR PREPARED BY: david grantham, p.e., city engineer
jerome joaquin, public works admin. manager
KAREN CHUNG, SENIOR ADMINISTRATIVE ANALYST
SUBJECT: ORANGE COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY REGIONAL CAPACITY PROGRAM GRANT APPLICATION AUTHORIZATION FOR BASTANCHURY ROAD WIDENING PROJECT
SUMMARY
Staff requests authorization to submit a grant application to the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) to fund the Bastanchury Road Widening Project planning and engineering phase under the 2026 Regional Capacity Program (Project O) Arterial Capacity Enhancement category.
PROPOSED MOTION
1. Approve OCTA Project O grant application submittal for Bastanchury Road Widening Project,
2. Authorize City Manager, or designee, to administer and/or execute grant administration documents.
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS
Approve the Proposed Motion
Reject proposed project and propose alternative project(s) for the next grant cycle Reject any project application
Other options brought by City Council.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Proposed Motion.
CITY MANAGER REMARKS
None.
PRIORITY POLICY STATEMENT
This item matches the following Priority Policy Statements:
Fiscal and Organizational Stability
Infrastructure and City Assets.
FISCAL IMPACT
The estimated Bastanchury Road Widening Project planning phase costs, including design and engineering, totals approximately $3 million. The City may receive up to the $2.250 million maximum grant amount, leaving the City to cover at least $750,000 using local match. The local match requirement for this grant equals 50 percent of eligible expenditures with potential to reduce the City match up to 25 percentage points if it meets certain eligibility requirements. Staff aims to reduce the City match to 25%. However, the actual local match will be determined during the application review process. M2 Local Fair Share funding will not cover the local match. The City would support matching funds with other funds in the Annual Street Rehabilitation program.
If awarded, staff would request City Council adopt a resolution committing to the required project funding in accordance with grant application requirements. Staff anticipates the award selection in June 2026. Staff would budget awarded grant funds, including the local match, in the appropriate fiscal year starting in the FY 2026-27 CIP Budget.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The Orange County Transportation Authority administers competitive funding for streets and road projects through the Comprehensive Transportation Funding Programs (CTFP). OCTA allocates these program funds through an annual competitive call for projects based on guidelines and scoring criteria approved by the OCTA Board of Directors. The CTFP guidelines identify procedures and requirements that local agencies must satisfy to apply for M2 funding and how OCTA will evaluate project applications.
OCTA issued calls for the 2026 CTFP Regional Capacity Program (Project O) on September 8, 2025 which provides Measure M2 (M2) funding for improvements to the Orange County Master Plan of Arterial Highways (MPAH). Staff reviewed the eligible project requirements and concluded the Bastanchury Road Widening Project best fits the Arterial Capacity Enhancement (ACE) program category.
The proposed project is located on Bastanchury Road, generally bounded by Harbor Boulevard and Fairway Isles Drive, adjacent the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Brea Dam flood control facilities. The 2026 grant application requests funding for the proposed project planning phase which includes the environmental and engineering cost. Improvements widen the existing four-lane roadway to a six-lane roadway in accordance with the MPAH classification to address the traffic volumes and reduce the roadway ‘pinch point’. The roadway widening would provide an additional travel lane in each direction, widened sidewalk on the north side, combined sidewalk and bike lane on the south side (closing the sidewalk gap), traffic signal modification at the St. Jude Hospital parking structure entrance, enhanced bike lane / trail connections, new street lighting, embankment and retaining wall construction, associated storm drain culvert extensions and applicable utility relocations.
The City received funding for both engineering and construction phases associated with this project, however, the City had not finalized engineering and returned the construction funding because the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers could not commit to meeting the OCTA funding deadlines. As a result, the City received CEQA certification and plans progressed to 90% complete but the project NEPA review did not start.
Staff would only apply for the project environmental and design phase completion due to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers timeframe. Staff would seek funding for the construction phase after design completion.
Staff presented the proposed project to the Infrastructure and Natural Resources Advisory Committee on October 20, 2025. The Committee expressed support to submit with the grant application.
Staff recommends authorizing the City to proceed with the grant application to allow time to finalize the scope of work and cost estimate, prepare narrative responses, collect information and conduct data analysis by the November 20, 2025 grant application deadline. Staff would request City Council authorization to accept and appropriate grant funds and additional budget appropriation should the City receive funding through the OCTA Project O program. Staff anticipates award selection announced in June 2026.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 – Project Location Map
cc: Interim City Manager Eddie Manfro
OCTA Project O Grant Application Authorization
November 4, 2025 - Page 2