Thursday, November 17, 2022; 6:00-8:00 pm
Teleconference
View and download the full agenda packet [3mb PDF].

Commissioners

Andrew Campbell, Alexander Frank, Grey Gardner, Michael Lok, Phoenix Mangrum, David Ralston, Patricia Schader (Chair), Nicholas Whipps, Dianne Yee (Vice-Chair)

Pursuant to the Governor’s Executive Order N-29-20 [PDF], all participants will join the meeting via phone/video conference and no teleconference locations are required.

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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

To join the meeting:

• By video conference—please click on this link to download Zoom and open the meeting on a computer or smart phone at the noticed meeting time.
• By phone—please dial at the noticed meeting time (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 (408) 638-0968 or +1 (669) 900-6833 or +1 (253) 215-8782 or +1 (346) 248-7799 or +1 (301) 715-8592 or +1 (312) 626-6799 or +1 (646) 876-9923
  Webinar ID: 983 1150 7451

To comment in the meeting:

• In the Zoom video conference—click the “Raise Your Hand” button to request to speak when Public Comment is being taken on an eligible agenda item. You will be permitted to speak during your turn, allowed to comment, and after the allotted time, re-muted. Instructions on how to “Raise Your Hand” are here.
• By phone—please call on one of the above listed phone numbers. You will be prompted to “Raise Your Hand” by pressing *9 to speak when Public Comment is taken. You will be permitted to speak during your turn, allowed to comment, and after the allotted time, re-muted. Please unmute yourself by pressing *6.

If you have any questions, please email Noel Pond-Danchik, staff liaison to the commission.

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AGENDA

Time	Item #	Topic
6:00	1	Teleconference Protocol/Roll Call/Determination of Quorum/Introductions (10 minutes)
6:10	2	Open Forum / Public Comment (10 minutes) Members of the public may comment on any issue within BPAC’s subject matter jurisdiction. Comments on a scheduled agenda item will be heard with that item. The BPAC’s Open Forum Committee tracks Open Forum issues raised by the public. The Committee reviews the public comments on a periodic basis to identify policy issues for discussion by the Commission. To request City services, please contact the City of Oakland Call Center (311).
6:20	3	Approval of meeting minutes (5 Minutes) Seek motion to adopt the October 2022 BPAC minutes.
6:25	4	Renewal of Resolution to Continue Teleconference Meetings (5 minutes) The Commission will consider renewing a resolution determining that conducting in-person meetings of the Bicyclist & Pedestrian Advisory Commission and its committees would present imminent risks to attendees’ health, and electing to continue conducting meetings using teleconferencing in accordance with California Government Code Section 54953(e), a provision of Assembly Bill 361 (AB-361).
6:30	5	Recent Bicyclist- and Pedestrian-Related Crashes (10 minutes) Chair Schader will lead the commission in a discussion of recent fatal and other high-profile traffic crashes in Oakland involving bicyclists and pedestrians. • On Saturday, October 1, 2022, at approximately 12:10pm, a 45-year-old Hispanic female pedestrian was fatally hit by a vehicle at the intersection of Foothill Boulevard at Austin Street while crossing the street in a crosswalk.
6:35	6	School Safety: School Crossing Guard Program, School Safety Patrol, and Traffic Safety Design Elements (25 minutes) OakDOT Assistant Engineer II Lucas Woodward will provide an update on how the Safe Streets Traffic Engineering Team works to address school traffic safety in Oakland. This includes a discussion of 311 requests, citywide programs, and capital projects. OakDOT School Traffic Safety Supervisor Paul Cirolia will then provide an overview of the School Crossing Guard and Safety Patrol programs, which moved to OakDOT’s Safe Streets Division from OPD as part of the Reimagining Public Safety efforts in 2021.
7:00	7	Reduced Speed Limits in Business Activity Districts (20 minutes) OakDOT Assistant Director, Megan Wier, will provide an overview of OakDOT’s citywide analysis to identify eligible Business Activity Districts, OakDOT’s prioritization approach, and timeline for implementation. Slowing Speeds in Business Activity Districts: Assembly Bill 43, Friedman: Traffic Safety (AB 43) was signed into law in late 2021 by California’s Governor. Under AB 43, local governments may, by ordinance, set a prima facie speed limit of 20 mph or 25 mph on streets contiguous to a “business activity district” (a new designation authorized by AB 43). The ordinance amending Oakland Municipal Code Chapter 10.20 (Speed Limits) to establish 20 mile per hour (MPH) and 25 MPH speed limits in Business Activity Districts informed by this analysis was approved by City Council on November 1, 2022 and is scheduled for final passage at City Council on December 6, 2022.
7:20	8	Power the People Project (20 minutes) Danielle Dynes and Citlalli Herrera, Community Planning Organizers at the East Oakland Collective (EOC), will lead the Commission in a discussion on EOC’s focus on shoreline access by sharing the Power the People: MLK Jr. Shoreline Access Study one-year recap since their presentation in October 2021. This project aims to explore feasible clean mobility options that can connect East Oakland residents to the MLK Jr. Shoreline.
7:40	9	Committee Report-Back (10 minutes) Committees of the BPAC will provide brief updates to the Commission. A list of active committees is included in the agenda packet and on the BPAC webpage.
7:50	10	Three-month agenda look-ahead (below), suggestions for meeting topics, announcements (below) (10 minutes)

Three-month agenda look-ahead

December

• BPAC Chair’s Report to Public Works Committee
• West Oakland Link (tentative)
• IKE Smart City Kiosk contract and the development of a Coordinated Street Furniture Program (tentative)

January

• BPAC Officer Elections
• Committee Assignments
• Annual Strategic Planning Projects Development Projects (tentative)
• Annual Major Development Projects (tentative)
• BART Projects (tentative)
• Annual Paving Plan Update (tentative)

February

• Transportation Development Act (TDA) Article 3 Recommended Projects and Updates (tentative)
• Pedestrian Push Buttons (tentative)
• Fire Code Update (tentative)
• Oakland Police Department and Resident Rides (tentative)

Announcements

• BPAC Agenda Sign-Up List:
  Sign up to receive these BPAC agendas by email.
• Adeline St – PG&E Restoration and Road Diet:
  Pavement restoration and striping is substantively complete on a PG&E gas main replacement project on Adeline St between 19th St and 35th St. The utility project included full-lane to full-roadway width pavement restoration where trenching took place and significant improvements and updates to the striping and signage along the corridor. The project implemented a planned road diet (approved by City Council in the West Oakland Specific plan), reconfiguring the roadway from two travel lanes per direction to one travel lane per direction, leaving space to add turn pockets at select intersections, buffered bicycle lanes, and buffer space along the roadway centerline to provide separation between oncoming traffic. Other upgrades include high-visibility crosswalks, updates to school crosswalk locations, and updates throughout the corridor to bring delineation and signage up to current standards. The project is a positive example of utility and OakDOT coordination. The project provided an approximately 1-mile northward extension to existing bike lanes on Adeline St between 10th St and 19th St, which were implemented by a City paving project in 2017.
• OakDOT Follow-up Regarding TOWN Presentation at BPAC Meeting and ATP Cycle 6 Outcome: (full letter below)
  • Dear BPAC Members,
    We are writing to follow up on feedback and questions from the October 20th BPAC meeting regarding the Transforming Oakland’s Waterfront Neighborhood (TOWN) projects. The TOWN projects are a comprehensive package of transportation infrastructure improvements that will provide safe, more sustainable and more equitable access to the waterfront for all Oaklanders. Once delivered, these projects will represent the implementation of longstanding community-based transportation plans for the City of Oakland including recommendations from both the City’s Bike and Pedestrian plans and the Equity Impact Analysis completed for the proposed Waterfront Ballpark District Transportation Plan (see Attachment A).
  • One of the key themes discussed during the public discussion was the concern that there is disparate investment in transportation infrastructure improvements across the City. Several commissioners expressed frustration regarding projects advancing in Downtown, Chinatown, West Oakland and Jack London Square, at the perceived expense of similar investments in East OaklandCommissioner Ralston pointed out there is “a larger question about how this project is framed in respect to the rest of Oakland’s Waterfront Neighborhoods. What [does OakDOT] consider to be Oakland’s Waterfront Neighborhoods?” Commissioner Ralston also asked “What are the other major projects that are connecting the rest of Oakland’s Waterfront Neighborhoods?” Commission Chair Shader added that not providing a waterfront access project in Deep East Oakland is “another way to keep people in Deep East Oakland who use a bike for transportation from getting [to Howard Terminal].”
  • The City is committed to building a network of safe transportation options that advance equity for Oaklanders. As stated in the OakDOT Racial Equity Team (RET) Charter, all levels of staff are responsible for ending systemic causes of racial disparity. The 2021 East Oakland Mobility Action Plan—the completion of which was a milestone for OakDOT—holds OakDOT accountable to community partners and outlines a 5 Year Action Plan that reflects the East Oakland Mobility Principles and responds to existing mobility challenges and desires heard from the community.
  • Despite OakDOT’s commitment to Racial Equity, the City acknowledges that there are many barriers between Oakland’s High/Highest Priority neighborhoods and the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline and Bay Trail, including physical barriers such as railroad tracks, the I-880 freeway, and large swaths of private industrial land. Moreover, the current access points are especially poor for people walking, bicycling, and taking transit.
  • While the TOWN projects currently focus on improving access to the Jack London Square waterfront from Downtown, West Oakland, and Chinatown, the City is also actively pursuing several existing projects and efforts in East Oakland that will improve access to the waterfront for East Oaklanders. Table 1 below shows a list of planned projects to better connect East Oakland neighborhoods with the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline and Bay Trail, and Table 2 shows planned crosstown projects to connect East Oaklanders to Downtown and by extension, the Jack London Square Historic Waterfront District.
  • Another comment we heard in response to the TOWN presentation was a need for safety improvements to the 11th Street and 12th Street overpasses. The commenter highlighted that proposed bike lanes on Martin Luther King Jr. Way would lead to more bicyclists using these overpasses to reach Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and noted that there have been multiple collisions here in the past. In response, we acknowledge that these overpasses are often unsafe and hinder accessibility, along with most of the other overpasses and underpasses in Oakland. This particular stretch of I-980 has disconnected West Oakland from the rest of the City. There are two major capital improvement projects will improve connection between West Oakland and Downtown:
    • The 14th Street Safety Project will include bike lanes on the overpass that will be separated from vehicle lanes with raised barriers. These lanes will connect with the future bike lanes on Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
    • The 7th Street Connection Project will include projected bike lanes under I-980 and connect to future bike lanes on Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
  • Status of Active Transportation Program Grants for Projects in East Oakland
    Commissioner Whipps requested more information about the two East Oakland projects that OakDOT applied for Active Transportation Program Cycle 6 grant funds. OakDOT applied for funds to advance the 73rd Avenue Active Routes to Transit and Bancroft Avenue Greenway projects, both described in Tables 1 and 2. On October 20, 2022, it was announced that OakDOT was not successful at being awarded ATP funds through the Statewide component of the program. These projects are still being considered for the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) component of the program. Projects to be awarded funds through the MPO component are expected to be announced in January 2023. Although we do know what scores the two projects received (see last link, below), we do not yet have extensive information on the reasoning behind the scores and comments that the two projects received. Staff have requested a debrief meeting with the grantor to better understand the final scores. Finally, while the City is pursuing a number of significant projects to help connect East Oakland to the Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline and Bay Trail, staff acknowledges that there is much work still to be done and appreciates the opportunity to be in dialogue with BPAC members regarding these issues.