On September 15, 2026, the Santa Ana City Council awarded a $4,806,808 construction contract to Legion Contractors, Inc. for the Memory Lane and Flower Street Improvements Project, No. 23-6037. Fisher Park has heard about this project at neighborhood meetings for years. Now it has a contractor, a budget and a construction schedule. The new medians will be what people notice first. The bigger change is how the street itself works, and part of that change already started at the corners of Bristol Street and Memory Lane.
The Fisher Park Neighborhood Association's Fall/Winter 2025 newsletter said construction would begin in June 2026. When the City posted the project for bids, it gave the start/delivery date as "October 2026/January 2027," with a duration of 120 working days. June came and went while the project was still out to bid.
The Crossing to Jack Fisher Park Gets Shorter
Most of the work happens on Flower Street between the Santiago Creek Bridge and Memory Lane. Jack Fisher Park, at 2501 N Flower Street, sits along that stretch. Santa Ana Public Works presented the design at the association's October 22, 2025 general meeting. According to the newsletter, the plan calls for:
- Landscaped medians about 8 feet wide down Flower Street, planted with drought-tolerant trees and other plants. Public Works described them as giving the street "a more residential look" while slowing traffic.
- A shorter crosswalk to Jack Fisher Park. Wider sidewalks on both sides cut down the distance across Flower Street. The crossing will also be slightly raised, which the newsletter says drivers will barely notice unless they're speeding.
- New bikeways, with existing street parking on Flower Street left as it is.
- New pavement. The newsletter promised significant improvements to Flower Street's surface.
One part of the design depends on each homeowner. Public Works asked people on Flower Street whether they want to keep the current landscaping in the parkways in front of their houses or have new drought-tolerant plantings installed to match the medians. The newsletter calls these landscaping plans tentative. The medians and the crossing are the most visible pieces, and all of them are designed to slow traffic.
The Bid Lists More Than the Meeting Did
The meeting presentation described the general look. The City's bid listing, posted June 9, 2026 under the name "Memory Lane and Flower Street Bikeway and Traffic Calming," spells out what the contractor has to build. The scope includes:
- A new Class IV protected bike lane
- New sidewalks, concrete driveways, curb and gutter
- Raised medians and islands, plus raised crosswalks
- Curb extensions and new ADA curb ramps
- Traffic signal modifications and a hybrid beacon installation
- Landscape and irrigation improvements
- Pavement rehabilitation, water quality BMPs, new signage and striping
The newsletter's "bikeways" turn out to be a Class IV protected lane. The single crosswalk is listed in the bid as raised crosswalks, along with curb extensions and a hybrid beacon. The newsletter mentioned none of these by name, and nearly all of them slow drivers down or shorten the distance people have to walk across the road.
The Morning Traffic Rules Came First
Two other traffic changes in Fisher Park came out of the same neighborhood traffic study. The association's newsletter describes both:
- Signs and barriers on Bristol Street now block U-turns and left turns from southbound Bristol onto W Park Lane. The newsletter says this was done partly because of the accidents and near misses at that intersection, and partly in response to residents.
- Right turns from Memory Lane onto Westwood Avenue are not allowed on weekday mornings from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m.
According to the newsletter, people on Sharon Road were particularly happy with the drop in morning commuter traffic cutting through the neighborhood. Public Works said its traffic surveys showed strong compliance and less traffic. Attendees at the October 2025 meeting agreed that these temporary changes should be made permanent.
Read together, the turn restrictions and the Flower Street rebuild are two parts of one plan. The turn rules cut down how many cars come through Fisher Park in the morning. The medians, raised crossings and protected bike lane will slow the cars that still use Flower Street. The first part has been in place long enough to have survey results. The second is now under contract.
From a June Target to a September Contract
The project's history explains why "June 2026" was never a firm date. The newsletter traces the timeline, and the City's bid and Council records pick up from there.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2022 | The Flower Street improvement project begins, later combined with a Memory Lane safety project that had been under study for several years |
| June 2023 | Santa Ana is awarded a $5 million grant for the full project, and the City adds $1.264 million |
| December 2023 | Preliminary phases begin |
| October 22, 2025 | Public Works presents the design at the association's general meeting and says construction will begin in June 2026, a full year earlier than first planned |
| June 9, 2026 | The City posts the project for bids |
| September 15, 2026 | City Council awards the contract to Legion Contractors, Inc. |
| October 2026/January 2027 | Start/delivery date as printed in the bid listing |
June 2026 turned out to be the month the project went out to bid, not the month crews arrived. The Council award locked in the money. The September 15 agenda put the total construction delivery cost at $6,008,510. That figure includes the $4,806,808 contract, $721,021 for contract administration, inspection and testing, and $480,681 for unanticipated or unforeseen work. At the same meeting, the Council accepted $4,550,000 from the State's Active Transportation Program and added it to the project's construction funds. The local civic site SA Pulse also reported the award in its summary of the meeting.
Two numbers in the bid listing set the pace from here. The job runs 120 working days, which is about 24 five-day work weeks. The contract also sets liquidated damages at $5,200 per calendar day. Construction contracts generally use liquidated damages as a daily charge for running past the deadline. Counted from October 2026, the first date in the bid listing, 120 working days run into 2027.
Memory Lane's New Striping Was Done With This Project in Mind
Some of Fisher Park's neighbors have already seen new lane markings. On Memory Lane near Memory Lane Park, the lanes were restriped after the City of Orange finished a pavement overlay on the bridge deck. The new striping runs from City Drive across the Santa Ana River bridge near Pacific Avenue. Santa Ana's June 2026 Ward 3 newsletter explained the change after residents asked about it. Orange did the work in coordination with Santa Ana staff so the new layout would match the upcoming Memory Lane bike lane project, and the newsletter called the striping "a deliberate, coordinated effort, not an accident or an oversight."
The stretch from the Santa Ana River bridge to Jack Fisher Park was planned as one corridor, even though two cities are building it at different times. Orange's striping is already in place, and the Santa Ana work is under contract with Legion Contractors.
Questions Worth Asking at the Next Meeting
The association meeting is still where Public Works has brought Fisher Park its updates. With the contract signed, these are the details to ask about:
- The actual construction schedule, and whether work begins on Flower Street or Memory Lane
- How access to Jack Fisher Park will work while the crosswalk and sidewalks are rebuilt
- When the parkway landscaping decision for homes on Flower Street will be made final
- Whether the Bristol Street and Memory Lane turn restrictions have been made permanent
The association is also looking for new board members, especially from Greenbrier Street, Sharon Road, Park Lane, Memory Lane, Flower Street and Acacia Place. Its newsletter lists [email protected] as the contact. Several of those streets are inside the project area.
If you're in Fisher Park and wondering how a calmer Flower Street, a protected bike lane and a shorter walk to Jack Fisher Park might change daily life on your block, the team at Better Living SoCal follows these north Santa Ana streets closely and is glad to talk it through. Talk with a Local Agent.
