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

Draft striping plan

Download the set here [PDF].

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Comments

These are comments that Robert Prinz submitted to OakDOT staff, plus Dianne Yee’s (Infrastructure Committee co-chair) comments added where noted.

35th Ave:

• Is there any opportunity to stripe a new crosswalk across 35th Ave at E 17th (north side)? There are bus stops at this intersection so riders do disembark and cross here, and currently the distance between the next two closest marked crosswalks is pretty far at over 900 feet. There are existing red curbs on both sides of 35th so no need for parking removal. There is no curb ramp on the east side yet, but in my opinion it would be better to add the crosswalk with this striping project as opposed to waiting until after a curb ramp can be built.
• Make sure to add red curb where parking will be removed—at SB 35th just south of Foothill. (DY comment)

MacArthur Blvd:

• I would prefer that advance yield lines be used at every uncontrolled, marked crosswalk. I know there are some internal conversations at OakDOT about reserving these mostly for multi-lane roads to address the “double jeopardy” issue with a driver in one lane stopping but not the next. However, I find the consistent use of advance yield markings and advance stop lines at every marked crosswalk helps people in quickly distinguishing between 2-way versus 4-way stops. Given this, and the traffic volumes/speeds on MacArthur I’d like to see them used consistently here.
• Second Robert’s comment to add advanced yield lines at both directions ahead of crosswalks. (DY comment)

Washington St:

• The buffered bike lane upgrade is appreciated, but was it not extended to Embarcadero due to a need to negotiate with the railroad, or some other reason? The road width is the same for that block, so the same treatment could be extended.
• Washington at 4th St is a 2-way stop favoring Washington, but many drivers on 4th don’t notice this and there are lots of cut-offs and close calls. I recommend adding advance yield lines in both directions at Washington ahead of the crosswalks to help make a visual distinction, and if possible “cross traffic does not stop” signs on 4th Street in both directions.
• Highly second Robert’s comments to add “Cross traffic does not stop” signs at 4th/Washington (and also at 2nd/Clay!) (DY comment)
• The crosswalks at 5th/Washington were already re-striped recently as part of the 5th Street paving project, and the one on the north side is angled to reach an existing curb ramp. Please keep these as-is.
• Please repaint the existing red curbs on each side of Washington between 5th and 7th Streets. Oakland PD really likes to park at some of the red curb locations even though they are placed to improve sight lines between pedestrians in the crosswalks and turning drivers. Preferably I’d like to see these areas bulbed out with either permanent or temporary materials to prevent misuse, but in the short term maybe refreshed curb markings will help a little.
• Ideally this should be a protected bike lane from Embarcadero to 5th Street, since there are few driveways, but I understand that’s not feasible via this striping project.

E 12th St/16th Ave:

• If there is existing signal actuation for this location at E 12th St, make sure it is adjusted to detect bike riders waiting in the turn box.
• Is there also space for a second turn box, to support bike rider left turns from northbound 16th Ave to westbound E 12th St?

E 12th St/29th Ave:

• Can advance yield lines be added before the green bike lane crossing, in the slip lane for car traffic turning right from 29th Ave onto E 12th St?

E 12th St/22nd Ave:

• Will bike intersection markings be added on E12th across 22nd? (DY comment)

W MacArthur Blvd:

• There is an existing business on the north side of W MacArthur between Market and Apgar that frequently parks box trucks perpendicular to the roadway, in the area where the planned bike lane will be added. It might be a good idea to reach out to them proactively and ask what their parking needs are, and if they can be incorporated into the project somehow while keeping the bike lane. Otherwise they will likely keep parking this way and block the bike lane after installation.
• I believe that the new construction on the north side of W MacArthur between Linden and San Pablo has already striped some other lane lines not shown in this plan, so there might be some more removals needed as part of this project.
• Dropping the westbound bike lane for sharrows on the west end just before San Pablo might be a better idea than trying to squeeze in the bike lane. Most drivers here are looking left for oncoming traffic on San Pablo, and won’t check their right side for potential bike traffic before making a right turn. I recommend keeping the bike lane past the parallel parking spots, but maybe adding just one or two sharrows before the right turn arrow as well.
• Some of the pavement on the south side of W MacArthur east of Linden isn’t great, so make sure to check it out and address any potholes or other issues before striping the bikeway.