What OCTA is about to decide
The Regional Transportation Planning Committee of the Orange County Transportation Authority meets Monday at 10:30 a.m. in the Board Room, 550 South Main Street, Orange, with Zoom participation available. The environmental cleanup funding list is presented, in the agenda’s words, “for Board of Directors’ review and approval” — the committee’s vote on it is a recommendation to the full Board; on the other action items the posted agenda prints the recommended action without saying who gives final approval. These are pending decisions from the posted agenda — not outcomes. Every item links to the official record.
Source: official agenda (PDF) · Full documents: meeting page · Next meeting: Monday, November 2, 2026 at 10:30 a.m.
✅ What actually passed (confirmed from the Legistar vote record): Per the committee’s meeting record, the Consent Calendar — Items 1 through 5 — was approved 5-0 on a motion by Director Tavoularis, seconded by Director Harper, “to approve the recommendation presented.” Voting yes: Klopfenstein, Foley, Go, Harper and Tavoularis; Vice Chair Tettemer and Director Kleiman were absent. The record shows one motion on the consent calendar and no separate action on any of its items, so that vote covers the $3,870,044 in Measure M2 Tier 1 Environmental Cleanup Program funding for eight projects, including the guideline exception for the City of Huntington Beach (Item 4); the $1.5 million State Route 74 Ortega Highway cooperative agreement and the additional $3.581 million and $1.1 million in State Transportation Improvement Program funds (Item 5); the $1,670,000 State Route 55 amendment (Item 2); the $321,437 Coastal Rail change order (Item 3); and the September 8 minutes (Item 1). The South Orange County transportation projects update (Item 6), recommended as “receive and file,” was also approved 5-0; the record names no mover or seconder for it. As the brief below notes, the committee’s vote on the environmental cleanup funding is a recommendation to the full Board of Directors. No minutes document has been posted yet; we will update this page when it is.
The headline: the committee is asked to approve $3,870,044 in Measure M2 Tier 1 Environmental Cleanup Program funding for eight water quality projects — along with an exception to the program guidelines that would let the City of Huntington Beach be recommended for an allocation “while the City of Huntington Beach is temporarily ineligible to receive Measure M2 funds.” Also on the consent calendar: a $1.5 million cooperative agreement with Caltrans for the State Route 74 Ortega Highway Gap Closure and Multimodal Improvement Project, plus an additional $3.581 million and $1.1 million in State Transportation Improvement Program funds for it; $1,670,000 more for construction support on the State Route 55 Improvement Project; and a $321,437 change order on the Coastal Rail Stabilization Priority Project.
💧 Measure M2 grants
- Environmental Cleanup Program, Tier 1 — 2026 call for projects: a recommendation to approve the award of $3,870,044 in Tier 1 Environmental Cleanup Program funding for eight projects. The agenda says the call for projects was issued in March 2026 and “provides funding for water quality improvement projects to address transportation-generated pollution,” with applications due in May 2026. The posted agenda does not name the eight projects or the recipients; the list is in the attachments. Presented by Mason Dosher and Rose Casey. Item 4
- Huntington Beach exception: part B of the same item asks the committee to approve an exception to the Comprehensive Transportation Funding Programs guidelines “to allow the City of Huntington Beach to (1) be recommended for a Measure M2 funding allocation while the City of Huntington Beach is temporarily ineligible to receive Measure M2 funds, and (2) proceed with the project, at its own risk, prior to the issuance of a letter agreement.” The recommendation continues: “If the City of Huntington Beach regains Measure M2 eligibility and all applicable requirements are satisfied, the Orange County Transportation Authority shall enter into a letter agreement and provide the awarded Measure M2 funds for the project.” The agenda does not say why the city is ineligible or name its project. Item 4
🛣 Highways
- State Route 74 Ortega Highway Gap Closure and Multimodal Improvement Project (Calle Entradero to Reata Road): a four-part recommendation to (A) authorize the Chief Executive Officer to negotiate and execute Cooperative Agreement No. C260556 with the California Department of Transportation “in the amount of $1.5 million for the plans, specifications, and estimates phase”; (B) authorize the use of an additional $3.581 million in State Transportation Improvement Program funds for the right-of-way capital phase; (C) authorize the use of an additional $1.1 million in State Transportation Improvement Program funds for the construction support phase; and (D) authorize the related amendments to the State and Federal Transportation Improvement Programs and any necessary agreements. The agenda says Caltrans is implementing the project and OCTA “is supporting this project as part of a multi-agency agreement to improve mobility in southern Orange County.” Presented by Ben Ku and Rose Casey. Item 5
- State Route 55 Improvement Project between Interstate 405 and Interstate 5: a recommendation to authorize the Chief Executive Officer to negotiate and execute Amendment No. 3 to Agreement No. C-0-2726 with the California Department of Transportation, in the amount of $1,670,000, for additional construction support services. The agenda says the Board approved the underlying cooperative agreement on January 11, 2021, and that the amendment “is needed to provide additional funding for construction support services.” Presented by Steven L. King and James G. Beil. Item 2
- South Orange County transportation projects update: the one Regular Calendar item, recommended as “receive and file as an information item.” Per the agenda, since the Board was last briefed in January 2026 “the Los Patrones Parkway Extension has advanced into final design, the Ortega Highway Gap Closure and Multimodal Improvements Project has progressed toward advertisement and construction, and environmental work has continued on the Interstate 5 Improvement Project from the County Line to Avenida Pico.” Presented by Carolyn Mamaradlo and Rose Casey. Item 6
🚆 Coastal rail
- Coastal Rail Stabilization Priority Project, Area 3 — change order: a recommendation to authorize the Chief Executive Officer to negotiate and execute Contract Change Order No. 13 to Agreement No. C-5-4033 with Condon-Johnson & Associates, Inc., in the amount of $321,437, “for the redesign and construction of the pedestrian trail fence.” The agenda says the Board adopted Emergency Resolution No. 2025-025 on April 14, 2025, authorizing the design-and-construction agreement, and that the change order is required “to address additional design requirements and construction work associated with the pedestrian trail fence included in the Mariposa Beach access improvements.” Presented by Jason Lee and James G. Beil. Item 3
🪑 Also on the agenda
- Approve the minutes of the September 8, 2026 Regional Transportation Planning Committee meeting. Item 1
- Items 1 through 5 are on the Consent Calendar, to be approved in one motion unless a committee member or a member of the public requests separate action or discussion.
- Public comments, the Chief Executive Officer’s report, and committee members’ reports. Items 7–9
- Committee members listed on the agenda: Stephanie Klopfenstein (Chair), Mark Tettemer (Vice Chair), Katrina Foley, William Go, Patrick Harper, Lauren Kleiman, and Kathy Tavoularis. Director Go leads the Pledge of Allegiance. The agenda states “There are no Closed Session items scheduled” and no Special Calendar matters. Item 10
Council Brief summaries are produced from official public records by our automated newsroom and reviewed before publication. Items are described as posted; the council may amend, continue, or remove items at the meeting. Spot an error? hello@councilbrief.com — we publish corrections.
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