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. Notes from the presentation and discussion are below.
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
- 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?
- What are lessons learned from the vertical separation installed along the bike lanes on Embarcadero?
- Plastic is not a great building material. Under what circumstances should it be used?
- “Quick-Build” and “Community Engagement” may be incompatible goals. Under what circumstances does one take priority over the other?
Presentation
Download the presentation file here [PDF].
Presentation Notes
- $75k in county funding + $75k local match, with June 30, 2021 completion deadline
- Project built on existing rapid response & essential places locations
- Also added bikeway separation on Embarcadero east of Oak Street
- Foothill at 26th Ave
- Existing rapid response location
- Added concrete pedestrian refuge in place of previous posts
- Done by in-house crews
- Will add a flashing beacon later
- Foothill at Cole
- Rapid response location
- Replaced K-71 posts with more durable modular flexpost installations – still a temporary material
- Foothill at Munson
- Same flexpost replacements as Foothill/Cole
- Adeline at 18th St
- Essential places upgrade—Modular centerline posts and bolt on curb
- Now 50% completed. The hardened centerline at midblock crosswalk yet to be installed
- Funding allocation for Oakland was the same as other, smaller cities
- Short timeframe was such that the work had to be done in-house, not contracted out
- Looked to existing work already underway, as opposed to new projects, such as rapid response locations or essential places locations
Discussion
- Are hardened centerlines more effective at signalized intersections, and what is the intended outcome of using them?
- Yes, mostly at signalized intersections—Helps with bad left turning behavior, slow down turns—But now also looking at uncontrolled crosswalks, like on 18th St in front of a school where there isn’t enough room for a median refuge
- Consider also 2-way stop locations, prioritizing at school zone locations and on neighborhood bike routes
- Also consider locations with bus boarding islands in-lane
- Thoughts on Embarcadero bikeway protection?
- Working well, no reports of blocked bike lanes yet
- These types of posts are very expensive
- Even if the post breaks, the plastic curb will remain. Crews could possibly replace the post into the remaining curb
- Different types of installations work better/worse in different contexts
- Plastic product durability isn’t great
- Go in fast with less planning, work with drainage
- Big concrete curb separated installations could be cost competitive, but not currently enough in-house capacity yet
- Request in current budget for OakDOT to hire more concrete finishers, could help increase capacity
- Concrete or rubber wheel stops could be an option, but they are held in place with rebar—could become a danger if dislodged
- Is doweled-in concrete still an option?
- Full-depth concrete installation was used at the Foothill at 26th Ave location
- Quick-build projects vs robust community engagement—are they compatible?
- Big push from the county on quick-build projects, but staff are struggling on how to communicate and receive input on projects within those time frames
- Via slow streets projects, staff got both praise and criticism for moving quickly
- For these projects there was no community engagement—Mostly built at locations where there was previous work
- There have been complaints about projects due to long construction timelines, especially related to impacts on local businesses. City could still use quick-build construction techniques, but with a more robust communications process, in order to lessen impacts during build out and keep stakeholders happier
