The councils of Orinda, Lafayette, and Moraga convened a joint session on Thursday, July 16, at St. Mary's College's Soda Center in Moraga.
The amended agenda listed all 15 elected officials from the three jurisdictions and centered on projects that shape how residents travel through and evacuate from the hills.
No votes were scheduled on the agenda, and official minutes have not yet been posted. What follows is based on the confirmed agenda and publicly available background on the projects discussed.
What was on the table
The agenda covered five main topics: a BART report, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority's Countywide Evacuation Study, Lamorinda smart traffic signals, the CCTA Expenditure Plan, and the Moraga Way Connectivity Study. Saint Mary's College President Roger Thompson opened with a welcome, and Townsend Public Affairs delivered a legislative update.
Listed officials included Moraga Mayor Kerry Hillis, Lafayette Mayor Anduri, and Orinda Mayor Brandyn Iverson, along with their respective vice mayors and councilmembers.
Countywide evacuation study
CCTA's Countywide Evacuation Study is funded by a $1.49 million Caltrans grant announced in August 2024. The plan covers all 19 cities and towns in Contra Costa County and is required under state laws SB 99 and Assembly Bill 747, which mandate evacuation planning for wildfires and other hazards.
According to CCTA, the study will assess local-level evacuation compliance and analyze route capacity, safety, and viability. When the grant was announced in August 2024, CCTA Executive Director Tim Haile said the plan would give the county "a set of tools to effectively manage emergency preparedness and plan for citizen evacuations in the case of wildfire, flooding or other hazardous scenarios."
CCTA has not publicly released a completion timeline for the study.
Moraga Way redesign
The Moraga Way Connectivity Study is backed by a $508,000 federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant awarded to Orinda and Moraga in late 2025 and publicly announced in April 2026. The study examines a potential protected shared-use path and a dedicated emergency vehicle and evacuation lane along Moraga Way.
When the grant was announced, Moraga Mayor Hillis called it a first step toward multimodal safety improvements on the corridor. The study is designed to work alongside CCTA's countywide evacuation plan, and the planning grant will determine construction costs and feasibility before any improvements are built.
Smart signals
CCTA's countywide Smart Signals project is upgrading traffic signals at roughly 365 intersections, with a separate Lamorinda Signal Earmark (Project 31009) dedicated to the three communities. The upgrades support real-time traffic management and coordination during emergencies, including wildfire evacuations.
Lamorinda already completed a 75-signal modernization between 2023 and 2025 that added fiber and 4G communications to previously disconnected intersections across all three cities. The new countywide project builds on that foundation.
What's next
The agenda also included a BART report; CCTA's most recent quarterly status report lists ongoing Lamorinda-area projects including the Lafayette BART Bike Station and the Lafayette Town Center Pathway. The final agenda item called for setting the next joint meeting date and location, which should appear in the minutes once posted.
Residents who missed the session can submit written comments to the Moraga Town Clerk at [email protected] or call 925-888-7021.
