July 2021 BPAC Agenda

.Reading time 12 minutes.

Thursday, July 15, 2021; 6:00-8:00 pm, online and by phone.

Agenda topics include:

  • Electric Bike Library and Zero Emissions Vehicle Plan
  • Bike Plan Update
  • BPAC Commissioner Outreach
  • Committee Report-Back

Announcements:

  • Telegraph Protected Bike Lanes
    The Oakland City Council voted Tuesday, 02 July 2021 to install concrete barriers to protect bicyclists on a 10-block stretch of Telegraph Avenue in the Koreatown Northgate neighborhood near the city’s downtown.
  • OakDOT Received Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) 2022 CIP Grant Funding:
    OakDOT received grant funding from ACTC for three projects: West Oakland Transit Improvements, 14th Street Safe Routes in the City, and the East Bay Greenway.
  • Paint the Town Mural painted at Mystic St and Rockwell St
  • New Traffic Safety 311/Seeclickfix Service Request Prioritization Model Completed
  • City Council Accepts Transportation Grants (ATP and HSIP)
  • E-Scooter Permits

More details below.

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MLK Jr. Way – 7th to 20th St Bike Lanes

.Reading time 2 minutes.

On June 16, 2021, OakDOT staff Emily Ehlers emailed the BPAC Infrastructure Committee, sharing the 95% plan set for a repaving and road diet project on Martin Luther King Jr. Way from 7th Street to 20th Street, just west of Downtown. Robert Prinz, Brendan Pittman, and Dianne Yee reviewed the plans and submitted comments, mainly concerning upgrading curb ramps and potentially adding painted bulb-outs.

View the plan set below.

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Grand Avenue – West Oakland Focus Group Round 2

.Reading time 3 minutes.

The Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) & West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP) would like to gather the West Oakland community again for further input on the Grand Avenue Mobility Plan!

The Grand Avenue Mobility Plan is a comprehensive plan for a more inclusive, safer and sustainable transportation network on Grand Avenue between Mandela Parkway to MacArthur Boulevard.

Register here if you would like to be a part of the focus group sessions:

  • Tuesday June 29th, 6-7:30pm, OR
  • Wednesday June 30th, 6-7:30pm

An update on the Grand Avenue Mobility Project was last presented to the BPAC Infrastructure Committee on February 4th, 2021.

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Annual Report from Strategic Planning

.Reading time 4 minutes.

At the June 17, 2021 BPAC meeting, Laura Kaminski, Acting Strategic Planning Manager, gave an update on existing and new projects including: the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan, an Impact Fee Update, and a General Plan Update.

Downtown Oakland Specific Plan (DOSP) — Mobility Objectives:

  • Improve access and safety for pedestrians;
  • Create a world-class transit network linking Oaklanders to downtown
  • Develop a connected network of low-stress bicycling facilities
  • See map (in presentation) of Proposed Low-Stress Short-Term and Vision Bicycle Networks

Transportation Impact Fee 5-Year Update:

  • Update fee schedule from 2016 nexus study based on inflation along with Appendix B – what is necessary to fund cumulative CEQA traffic mitigation costs.
  • Provide additional fee schedule to fund list of potential citywide transportation projects not included in Appendix B.
  • Provide additional fee schedules to fund list of specified transportation projects included in the (1) Downtown Specific Plan (DOSP) and (2) Waterfront Ballpark District at Howard Terminal Project (offsite transportation projects, not direct impacts of Howard Terminal project)

General Plan Update Schedule

  • 2021 spring and summer: Approach and Consultant Team Selection
    • General Plan Update Memo
    • RFP for Consultant Team (Council – September)
    • Backbone CBO as part of consultant team
  • 2021 fall: Official Kick-off
  • 2023, January: Adoption of Housing, Safety, and Environmental Justice Element
  • 2025, July: Adoption of Land Use, Transportation, Noise, Open Space, Conservation, and Recreation Elements

The full presentation is below.

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Telegraph Avenue Complete Streets Project, 20th-29th Street

.Reading time 8 minutes.

At the June 17, 2021 BPAC meeting, Ryan Russo, Director of the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT), will present a brief history of bike facilities on Telegraph Avenue in Koreatown Northgate (KONO); provide an overview of what we’ve learned since the installation of an interim project in 2016; and present an overview of the proposed recommendation to install enhanced buffered bike lanes with active curb management, which City Council will consider later this month. Finally, we’ll take comments and questions from BPAC Commissioners and the public, and share how the public can continue participating in the Telegraph Avenue Complete Streets Project.

What we’ve learned (2013-2019)

  • The good:
    • The number of people walking and biking doubled
    • People driving are three times more likely to yield to people crossing the street
    • People walking and biking report feeling safer with the bike lane than with the five-lane condition
    • Motor vehicle volumes have remained steady, but 85th percentile speeds have decreased closer to the posted speed limit of 25 mph
  • The less good:
    • Reported collisions involving people walking and biking increased by 33%
    • People driving park in the bike lane
    • Bike lane and intersection visibility concerns
    • Pedestrian visibility concerns
    • Anecdotal reports of increased near-miss collisions
    • Maintenance challenges
    • Businesses report negative impacts
    • Aesthetic concerns

The full presentation is below.

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Oakland RAISE – I-880 Freeway Green Infrastructure Retrofit and Active Transit Corridor Planning

.Reading time 8 minutes.

At the June 17, 2021 BPAC meeting, BPAC Commissioner David Ralston will announce an upcoming Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) federal planning grant opportunity to support green infrastructure and active transit connections along the I-880 corridor in East Oakland. This plan would include potential freeway lid crossings to provide equitable access for East Oaklanders to the Bay Trail and waterfront as well as co-beneficial emission reduction and carbon capture opportunities. Ralston will be seeking a letter of support from the BPAC.

Project background

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), working with regional partners such as MTC and the State DOT, is preparing a planning grant application for this year’s round of federal RAISE infrastructure funding. The RAISE program (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) is a federal grants program previously known as BUILD. This program provides $1 billion in federal FY 2021 discretionary grant funding for capital projects and planning projects.

The proposed planning project focuses on the heavy-diesel “goods movement” corridor of the I-880 Freeway as it passes through the severely impacted environmentally justice disadvantaged communities of greater East Oakland (Estuary to 105th Ave., an approximately 5-6-mile segment). The project will undertake planning feasibility, technical assessments, and conceptual-development designs for utilizing Caltrans (State) ROW along this corridor for the innovative installation of co-beneficial green infrastructure that can:

  • Mitigate/reduce PM, Black Carbon and other Diesel emissions (as well as noise) to adjacent communities; 
  • Sequester carbon and GHG from vehicular traffic;
  • Provide vegetative canopy to reduce urban heat island;
  • Enhance the capacity of groundwater recharge and provide flooding mitigation;
  • Enable and fill key active transit network gaps (such as connections between local neighborhoods, the East Bay Greenway and the Bay Trail);
  • Provide opportunity for green jobs works programs.

More info below.

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June 2021 BPAC Agenda

.Reading time 9 minutes.

Thursday, June 17, 2021; 6:00-8:00 pm, online and by phone.

Agenda topics include:

  • Bike to Wherever Day Report-Back
  • Annual Report from Strategic Planning
  • Telegraph Avenue Complete Streets Project, 20th Street to 29th Street
  • Oakland RAISE – I-880 Freeway Green Infrastructure Retrofit and Active Transit Corridor Planning
  • Committee Report-Back

Announcements:

  • Neighborhood Bike Route Implementation Guide:
    A guide outlining how OakDOT will implement bike plan recommendations for “neighborhood bike routes” (also known as “bicycle boulevards”) has been published online here [PDF]. The guide was completed by the Bicycle & Pedestrian Program with input from the Bicyclist & Pedestrian Advisory Commission’s Infrastructure Committee and other OakDOT sections including Traffic Engineering, Paving and Sidewalks, and Planning and Project Development. The Guide describes implementation in the following five subject areas: Scoping & Monitoring, Route Establishment, Traffic Calming, Traffic Control, and Public Notification & Comment.

More details below.

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