The City of Garden Grove proposes to construct a bicycle and pedestrian trail in the former Pacific Electric railroad right-of-way (ROW) currently owned by OCTA, from Stanford Avenue to Brookhurst Street (about 3,725 ft).  This is a continuation of the recently constructed bicycle and pedestrian trail pilot project in the OCTA ROW from Nelson Street to Standford Avenue (about 800 ft.).  In June 2015, the City's Planning Division applied for and received an Active Transportation Program, Cycle 2 grant from the Federal Highway Administration to prepare environmental documentation and to design and construct a bike and pedestrian trail as described above.  The grant provides $1.9M to complete the above work, with the City contributing $50,000 to the effort.  The grant is administered  by Caltrans in conjunction with the California Transportation Commission.

The initial work of preparing environmental documents has been completed.  A categorical exemption has been prepared and officially approved and recorded  by the Orange County Recorder's Office.  A categorical exemption means that the project does not have a significant effect on the environment and is therefore administratively approved.  With the categorical exemption recorded and with the approval of Caltrans to start the design process, staff is now ready to hire a qualified design consultant. 

The City solicited proposals to provide professional engineering design services for this project, which includes topographic survey, civil and traffic engineering design, including securing permits from all jurisdictional agencies.

Public Works requested proposals from five (5) firms to provide professional design services.  Out of the five (5), two (2) consultants responded.  The proposals were evaluated by the Public Works Engineering staff.  The selection process is based on experience of the firm on similar projects, firm's knowledge and understanding of the project, availability, and customer service experience provided by their respective references.

Based on the tallied scores from the three (3) evaluators,  David Evans and Associates Inc. scored the highest.  The following is a summary of the ratings: 

There is no impact to the General Fund.  The design will be financed through a Federal grant  under ATP Cycle 2 in the amount of $119,270.00.

It is recommended that the City Council:

• Award a professional services agreement to David Evans and Associates Inc. for engineering design services for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail Project; and

• Authorize the City Manager to execute the professional services agreement with David Evans and Associates Inc. in the amount of $119,270, on behalf of the City.

By: Mike Santos, P.E.

      Associate Civil Engineer