The Orange County Transportation Authority board has selected an engineering firm to design the Santa Ana-to-Garden Grove streetcar project.
The board voted to hire HNTB Corporation to design the four-mile route from the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center through the city’s downtown to the new transit hub at Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove.
The firm has worked on designing 12 streetcar projects throughout the nation, Joel Zlotnik of the OCTA said on Monday. The firm previously worked with the Orange County agency for projects in Laguna Niguel and Mission Viejo.
Construction is expected to begin in 2017 and be completed 2020.
The project is estimated to cost $289 million, according to Eric Carpenter of the OCTA.
Officials have not negotiated how much the engineering firm will be paid for the design work, Carpenter said. State and federal law prohibit the cost of the work being factored into the selection of the engineering firm, Carpenter said.
The line will include up to seven streetcars and a dozen stations. OCTA officials estimate it will provide service to about 6,000 riders daily by 2035.
OCTA officials were notified in May the agency had qualified for federal grants that could cover half the costs in the initial phase.
— City News Service