Public Works Agency
www.santa-ana.gov/pw
Item # 21
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
October 6, 2026
TOPIC: Approve Amendment to Agreements for First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study
AGENDA TITLE
Amendment to Cooperative Agreement (No. C-4-2053) with Orange County Transportation Authority and First Amendment to the Agreement with HDR Engineering, Inc. for the First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study (Project No. 25-6042) (Non-General Fund)
RECOMMENDED ACTION
1. Approve an appropriation adjustment recognizing Regional Early Action Planning 2.0 grant funding in the amount $343,896 into the Public Services-Street Safety Projects, State Grant-Indirect revenue account and appropriate the same amount into the State Safety Projects, Improvements Other Than Buildings expenditure account. (Requires five affirmative votes)
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute a First Amendment to the Cooperative Agreement (No. C-4-2053) with Orange County Transportation Authority that increases the amount by $382,896, for a total of $4,682,896 in Regional Early Action Planning 2.0 grant funding for the First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study for the remaining term expiring December 30, 2026 (Agreement No. A-2026-XXX).
3. Authorize the City Manager to execute a First Amendment to the agreement with HDR Engineering, Inc. and increase the total compensation by $600,489 to provide additional technical studies, right-of-way engineering, and utility coordination for the First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study for a total amount not-to-exceed of $4,470,489, for the remaining term expiring May 20, 2027, and extension options (Agreement A-2026-XXX).
4. Approve an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Capital Improvement Program to include $343,896 in study and design funds for the First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study (Project No. 25-6042).
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: Yes
Approve Amendment to Agreements for First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study October 6, 2026
DISCUSSION
The Public Works Agency administers and oversees all capital improvement projects in the City. The First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study is one of the City's priority transportation capital improvement projects and will improve approximately 3.1 miles of First Street into a more accessible multimodal corridor serving pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, motorists, and businesses. The project advances the City's Vision Zero Action Plan, Complete Streets Policy, General Plan Mobility Element, and other local and regional transportation initiatives.
On February 18, 2025, the City was awarded a $4,300,000 grant from Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) through the Southern California Association of Governments’ (SCAG) Regional Early Action Planning (REAP 2.0) grant program. The grant will fund a comprehensive study of First Street from Bristol Street to Tustin Avenue and prepare design plans and specifications for the construction of the recommended improvements. On May 20, 2025, HDR Engineering, Inc. (HDR) was awarded an agreement (Exhibit 1) to provide engineering and transportation planning services for the project in a total amount not-to-exceed of $3,870,000 for a term beginning May 21, 2025, and expiring May 20, 2027, with provisions for two, one-year extensions.
The City has since been awarded an additional $382,896 in REAP 2.0 grant funding (Exhibit 2), increasing the total grant award from $4,300,000 to $4,682,896. The additional funding will support expanded engineering and technical services necessary to advance the First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study through final design.
HDR has successfully completed planning, community engagement, alternatives analysis, and preliminary engineering and on May 5, 2026, the City Council unanimously selected a preferred design alternative. Selection of the preferred design alternative allowed staff and HDR to proceed with preparing the final design plans, specifications, and engineering estimates (PS&E). The project is scoped and funded for 100 percent (100%) PS&E through the Southern California Association of Governments’ (SCAG) Regional Early Action Planning (REAP 2.0) grant program.
The project is currently at the 60 percent (60%) design phase, where engineering plans have been sufficiently developed to evaluate constructability, utility conflicts, drainage infrastructure, pavement rehabilitation needs, and regulatory requirements.
As the project advanced to the 60 percent (60%) design milestone, engineering coordination and design development showed that additional technical studies, right-ofway engineering, utility coordination, and utility potholes were necessary to satisfy City engineering standards, Orange County regulatory requirements, and accepted engineering design practices for the City Council selected design alternative. While the original agreement contemplated preparation of preliminary engineering and design, the need for these additional specialized studies and coordination could not be fully Approve Amendment to Agreements for First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study October 6, 2026
identified until the preferred roadway configuration and associated improvements were sufficiently developed. Completion of these studies and utility coordination is necessary to advance the project through the 90 percent (90%) and ultimately the 100 percent (100%) PS&E milestones and prepare the project for future construction funding.
The additional work includes preparing a Drainage Report, Geotechnical Pavement Design Memorandum, Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP), Right-of-Way Engineering, Utility Coordination, additional Storm Drain Design, and Utility Potholing and will be fully funded by the SCAG grant.
Drainage Report: The proposed project modifies roadway geometry, curb alignments, landscaped parkways, raised medians, bicycle facilities, and portions of the existing storm drain system throughout the corridor. Accordingly, a comprehensive drainage analysis is required to verify that the proposed improvements adequately convey stormwater and comply with City and Orange County drainage design standards.
HDR will prepare a Drainage Report that documents the engineering basis for the proposed drainage design through the 60 percent (60%), 90 percent (90%), and 100 percent (100%) design phases. The work includes reviewing existing drainage records, conducting hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, mapping drainage areas, performing roadway spread calculations, evaluating the hydraulic capacity of the existing and proposed storm drain systems, and preparing design recommendations for the proposed drainage improvements. The completed report will serve as the basis for the project's final storm drain design and construction documents.
Geotechnical Pavement Design Memorandum: The proposed improvements include roadway reconstruction, widened sidewalks, median modifications, utility improvements, traffic signal foundations, and storm drain construction. These improvements require a detailed geotechnical investigation to establish appropriate pavement structural sections and foundation recommendations.
The scope of work includes subsurface exploration, including soil borings throughout the corridor, laboratory testing of soil samples, geotechnical analyses, and preparation of a Geotechnical Pavement Design Memorandum. The memorandum will provide pavement design recommendations, traffic signal foundation recommendations, and engineering parameters necessary for final roadway design. These recommendations will be incorporated into the final PS&E package to ensure long-term pavement performance and reduce future maintenance needs.
Water Quality Management Plan: Because the project qualifies as a priority project under the North Orange County Technical Guidance Document, a WQMP is required to comply with post-construction stormwater quality requirements.
HDR will prepare the WQMP in accordance with the City's Municipal Separate Storm Approve Amendment to Agreements for First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study October 6, 2026
Sewer System (MS4) permit requirements and the North Orange County Technical Guidance Document. The work includes stormwater treatment calculations, sizing and placement of permanent treatment Best Management Practices (BMPs), incorporation of proprietary treatment systems into the roadway and drainage plans, preparation of technical specifications and cost estimates, refinement of BMP layouts through the 90 percent (90%) and 100 percent (100%) design phases, and completion of the required Orange County recordation process following approval. Completion of the WQMP is necessary to obtain regulatory approvals and complete the project's final design.
Right-of-Way (ROW) Engineering: HDR will order 15 title reports to support new roadway easements, five (5) additional title reports to support intersection curb returns where the documented ROW does not match existing improvements, perform ROW engineering to verify existing parcel boundaries for affected parcels, prepare Plats and Legal descriptions to support 15 new parcel takes, and address comments.
Utility Coordination: HDR will begin utility coordination with Southern California Edison (SCE). The coordination effort will include the preparation of utility impact exhibits specific to SCE facilities in order to facilitate relocation coordination with SCE and other utility owners.
Additional Storm Drain Design: Two (2) additional drainage systems are required by PWA for inclusion into the design package. These two systems will replace deficient systems located at the Main Street and Broadway Street intersections. The HDR design team will prepare new plans and profile design plans for these two drainage systems and include the plans in their 90% and 100% design submittals. This task will include plans, specifications, and cost estimates for the added drainage items and will be incorporated into the drainage report with supporting hydraulic calculations.
Utility Potholes: The HDR team will complete 35 utility potholes to locate existing utilities at critical points along the corridor including proposed utility crossing and traffic signal locations. The utility pothole information will be supplied to the PWA in the form of a field report and the pothole data will be added to the First Street utility plans.
Staff recommends the approval of the proposed Amendment to the Cooperative Agreement with OCTA that increases the amount by $382,896, for a total of $4,682,896.
The Cooperative Agreement identifies the roles and responsibilities of each agency, including provisions from SCAG to ensure compliance with REAP 2.0 grant funding guidelines and identify OCTA’s responsibilities for reimbursement and reporting to SCAG.
The proposed First Amendment increases the original Agreement with HDR Engineering, Inc. by $600,489 to complete these additional engineering services for the remaining term expiring May 20, 2027. The original agreement with HDR totaled $3,870,000. The First Amendment would increase the total compensation to Approve Amendment to Agreements for First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study October 6, 2026
$4,470,489, which is fully covered through the grant award of $4,682,896.
Staff recommends approval of the First Amendment to Agreement A-2025-073 (Exhibit 3) with HDR Engineering, Inc. to modify the scope of services to complete the First Street Multimodal Study. Using HDR to perform these services provides continuity with the existing design team, avoids duplicating engineering efforts, minimizes project schedule impacts, and allows the City to efficiently advance the project from the current 60 percent design (60%) milestone to 100 percent (100%) PS&E.
Completion of these technical studies, ROW engineering, and utility coordination is essential to finalizing the construction documents, obtaining necessary regulatory approvals, and positioning the City to pursue future state and federal construction grant opportunities.
The additional work identified in the First Amendment, funded entirely through available REAP 2.0 grant funds, allows the City to complete the engineering necessary to deliver the project while maximizing the use of external funding and requiring no General Fund contribution.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
There is no environmental impact associated with this action.
FISCAL IMPACT
With the approval of the requested appropriation adjustment, $343,896 in REAP 2.0 grant funds will be recognized in the Public Services-Street Safety Projects, State Grant-Indirect revenue account (No. 14717002-52027) and appropriate it for spending in the Regional Early Action Planning Grant, Improvements Other Than Building expenditure account (No. 14717613-66220).
With the approval of the requested appropriation adjustment, all funds will be available for expenditure in Fiscal Year 2026-2027. Any remaining balances not expended at the end of the fiscal year will be presented to City Council for approval of carryovers into Fiscal Year 2027-2028.
Fiscal
Year
Accounting UnitAccount No.Fund
Description
Accounting Unit,
Account
Description
Amount
Current Budget
2026-27 14717613-66220
(25-6042)
Street Safety
Programs
Regional Early
Action Planning
Grant,
Improvements
$217,593
Approve Amendment to Agreements for First Street Multimodal Boulevard Study October 6, 2026
EXHIBIT(S)
1. Original Agreement with HDR Engineering, Inc. (A-2025-073)
2. First Amendment to Cooperative Agreement (No. C-4-2053) with Orange County Transportation Authority
3. First Amendment to Agreement with HDR Engineering, Inc.
4. Capital Improvement Project Worksheet
Submitted By: Rodolfo Rosas, P.E., Acting Executive Director of Public Works Approved By: Alvaro Nuñez, City Manager
Fiscal
Year
Accounting UnitAccount No.Fund
Description
Accounting Unit,
Account
Description
Amount
Current Budget
Other Than
Buildings
Reallocation
2026-27
14717613-66220
(From 25-6031 to
25-6042)
Street Safety
Programs
Regional Early
Action Planning
Grant,
Improvements
Other Than
Buildings
$39,000
Appropriation Adjustment
2026-27 14717613-66220
(25-6042)
Street Safety
Programs
Regional Early
Action Planning
Grant,
Improvements
Other Than
Buildings
$343,896
Total $600,489