At the September 7, 2023 BPAC Infrastructure Committee meeting, OakDOT Engineer, Ben Granberry, presented upcoming paving project plans, including those for E 8th St and Franklin St, and accepted comments and input from the committee on bicyclist and pedestrian design elements. 

An excerpt of the presentation is below, followed by the full presentation [10.4MB PDF], presentation notes, and discussion notes.

Project background

• Pavement rehabilitation
• 3.25 Miles
• Various segments across Downtown Oakland
• Meeting 5-Year Paving Plan Goals

Bike facility updates

• Webster Street
• 11th Street
• 7th/8th Street
• 9th Street
• Madison Street
• Oak Street
• Franklin Street
• 13th Street

Presentation

Presentation notes

• Paving project focusing on Downtown area
• Project at 65% design phase, open to feedback
• Other streets are in the paving project but are small and without bikeway facilities
• Single block of Webster from 5th to 6th Streets meets 2019 bike plan recommendation for painted bike lane
  • Basic painted bike lane to be implemented
  • Future connection to Oakland-Alameda Access Project
• 11th Street, Clay to Broadway — buffered bike lane proposal will not meet 2019 bike plan recommendation, but potential upgrade to protected bikeway would.
  • Left side buffered bike lane proposed
  • Internal discussions on potential upgrade to cycletrack
  • Paint and posts are feasible within paving project scope 
  • Connects to Clay St bikeway facility
• 7th St/8th St, Fallon to 5th Ave — meets 2019 bike plan recommendation for protected bikeway
  • Upgrading buffered bike lane to protected bikeway
  • Works with existing pedestrian islands at estuary crossing
  • FG300 bollards – Plastic curbs with flex posts
  • Westbound 7th at Fallon, removing one of three right turn car lanes
• 9th St, Webster to Harrison — does not meet 2019 bike plan recommendation for protected bikeway
  • Single block – Conversion of a car lane, from three to two
  • Other blocks before/after this block have two car lanes
• Madison from 11th to 12th Streets, and Oak St (10th to 13th Street)  — meets 2019 bike plan recommendation for buffered bike lane
  • Mostly replacing existing buffered bike lane striping
• Franklin St, 6th to 20th — will not meet 2019 bike plan recommendation, but the follow-up cycletrack project would.
  • 6th to 11th St: No bikeway upgrades, just repaving & replacing existing conditions – Ongoing Chinatown Complete Streets project may inform other upgrades
  • 11th to 14th St – Replacing existing buffered bike lane striping – Other project to develop 2-way cycletrack on this segment, at 15% to 35% design status currently
  • 14th to 20th St – Upgrading standard to buffered bike lane striping – Other project to develop 2-way cycletrack on this segment
• 13th St, Franklin to Fallon St — meets 2019 bike plan recommendation for buffered bike lane
  • Currently no bikeway, will add buffered bike lane on right side and back-in angled parking on left side

Discussion notes

• What’s the difference between cycletrack vs buffered bike lane?
  • Cycletrack has vertical elements separating bikeway from auto lanes
• What are stats on added safety from this type of work?
  • Hard to answer quantitatively, takes a while to get crash data
  • Trying to promote bike and pedestrian safety & access
  • Speeding info is critical, higher speeds = worse traffic safety outcomes
  • Behaviors have gotten worse during pandemic
  • Bike Plan has long term crash data
  • East Bay has only had one traffic fatality of any mode associated with a protected bikeway, in Fremont, since the first was installed in 2008 (now at over 60 protected bikeways throughout the East Bay)
• Would be great to see protection on 13th St facility — Concerned that drivers will swerve to avoid someone exiting angled parking
• Timeline of project?
  •  Construction late 2024
• 9th Street — Concerns about deliveries and double-parking – Need to reach out to businesses to avoid blockages
• Need better communications on new types of facilities
  • OakDOT needs to fill communications staff vacancies
• 13th St buffered bike lane can provide an alternative to 14th St protected bikeway if blocked at night — Opportunity to look into something similar in the other direction
• Opportunity for right-turn slip lane closure from E 8th St to 5th Ave — Maybe cost-sharing with Brooklyn Basin developer
  • Will look into it
• FG300 flex posts were first used at Embarcadero / Oak St protected bikeway. They have held up well, concrete is better but this is a good option for quick builds.