Month: June 2021

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 6 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 20 minutes.

At the June 17, 2021 BPAC meeting, Ryan Russo, Director of the Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT), presented a brief history of bike facilities on Telegraph Avenue in Koreatown Northgate (KONO); provided an overview of what we’ve learned since the installation of an interim project in 2016; and presented an overview of the proposed recommendation to install enhanced buffered bike lanes with active curb management, which City Council will consider later this month. Director Russo shared 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 and summary of discussion are 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 15 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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ACTC Rapid Response Projects follow-up discussion

.Reading time 6 minutes.

At the June 3rd, 2021 BPAC Infrastructure Committee meeting, OakDOT staff Jason Patton and Jason Cook gave a presentation on the ACTC Rapid Response Projects and led a discussion to follow up on these projects.

Grant info

$75k Grant with $75k Local Match ($150,000 total) for quick-build transportation improvement projects that support improvements to the Rapid Response locations, Essential Places Locations, and a curbside buffered bike lane upgrade. Deadline for completion is June 30, 2021.

More info: Alameda County Transportation Commission – COVID-19 Rapid Response Bicycle and Pedestrian Grant Program

Discussion questions

  1. Hardened centerlines are a new design treatment in the toolkit. Where will this treatment be most beneficial? How should the many possible locations be prioritized?
  2. What are lessons learned from the vertical separation installed along the bike lanes on Embarcadero?
  3. Plastic is not a great building material. Under what circumstances should it be used?
  4. “Quick-Build” and “Community Engagement” may be incompatible goals. Under what circumstances does one take priority over the other?

The presentation and discussion notes are below.

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2021 Citywide Striping Project

.Reading time 10 minutes.

In early May, OakDOT staff Jason Cook shared the 2021 Citywide Striping Project draft plans with the BPAC Infrastructure Committee. These plans were shared through email and not presented at an Infrastructure Committee meeting.

“The 2021 Citywide Striping Project consists of a series of enhancements and green markings to existing bike lanes throughout Oakland. We had funding become available that needs to be encumbered before the end of the fiscal year and saw this as an opportunity to put together a striping project.” –Jason Cook

“These are relatively small projects, mostly filling in bikeway gaps or adding on to and upgrading existing bike lanes. These projects do not include paving, curb ramps, posts, or other non-striping elements.” –Robert Prinz (Infrastructure Committee co-chair)

The project areas are:

  • 35th Ave from International Blvd to Foothill Blvd
  • MacArthur Blvd from Boston Ave to Coolidge Ave
  • Washington St from 2nd St to 9th St
  • Market St at 7th St
  • E 12th St at 16th Ave
  • E 12th St at 22nd Ave
  • E 12th St at 29th Ave
  • W MacArthur Blvd from San Pablo Ave to 500ft west of Market St

The draft striping plan and comments by Robert Prinz and Dianne Yee are below.

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